Why you should optimize images for the web

Like all healthy and productive relationships, the one between you and your website designer should be built on a foundation of:

• Trust
• Respect
• Honesty

Trust is perhaps the most important quality of any successful client-designer relationship. When you trust your designer, you’re able to give them creative freedom, space to produce their best work, and opportunities for exciting designs that they may not have otherwise arrived at.
And this process should be a collaborative one. You and your designer both have very different, though equally important, roles to play, and you each bring necessary skills to the table.
So, when giving website design feedback, begin with the faith that your designer is invested in and capable of building you the best website possible. Remember, feedback in design goes a long way, so make sure to trust your designer’s:

• Intentions – You’ve both entered this collaboration to build a website that reflects your brand’s unique ethos and meets its unique challenges. Trust that your designer has your best interests in mind, and that any creative misalignments are due to simple misunderstanding rather than malice or apathy.
• Capabilities – If web design were easy, you’d do it yourself. Have faith in the skills and experience your designer brings to the table. When reviewing their designs, be open to their interpretation and creative input before expressing your thoughts.

Collaboration thrives on clear communication and specific input. When giving design feedback, always be as clear as possible. With clear, precise criticisms and instructions, your designer will be able to fully understand and capture your vision, giving you a better end product in less time. That includes using specific language and details rather than clichés or generalizations.
If you’re still figuring out how to give good website design feedback, here are some ideas to provide specific, helpful notes:
Pinpoint individual elements – We often hear phrases like “make it pop,” but a design that “pops” is subjective—it’s more of a reflection of your feelings toward it than anything innate to the visuals themselves. Here are some concrete notes that might encapsulate what you really mean to say:

• “I want more contrast between the background and foreground colors so that the designs are clearly noticeable.”
• “I wish the colors were more vibrant. I don’t think pastels and neutrals encompass the energy of my brand.”
• “I’d love to see more unique shapes. The square boxes and buttons are too uniform, and lack that zany quality that I mentioned earlier.”

Tell them what you’d like to see more and less of – Tell your designer what you want and love about a design, in addition to what you don’t. For example, “I’m not loving the icons. I’d like to see a curvier, more abstract style, and I wish the typeface had fewer straight lines and square edges to match.” If you don’t know the exact technical terms, that’s okay—describe a feeling or impression you wish you had.
Explain why you don’t like something – Although your personal taste will certainly play a part in what you bring to the design process, it’s best to pair any personal judgments with descriptive reasoning. Be specific about what elements you’re not sure about. Are the colors too bright? Does the large font feel aggressive? Do you find the art style too abstract? This will give your designer a better idea of what changes to make.