One of the hardest things for a designer is the actual build of the web site. Do you often sit there staring at a blank page wondering how you’re going to start? This is common among a lot of designers and the solution is in the questions you ask the client at the initial meeting. Get this wrong or don’t bother doing it and the whole process becomes a lot harder.
Get as many of the following questions answered and 85% of the design battle is already done because you will already know what needs to go on the page and where to place it.
Just giving you the questions isn’t enough because you need to understand why the questions are asked. For this reason I have also included example options for the more in-depth questions so you can see why the question is important and what kind of answer you’re looking for. Get all this right and the page will pretty much build itself!
One more thing before you read the questions; please don’t go in with a laptop even if you know you’re not going to use it. People are still afraid of technology and having your face stuck behind a laptop screen will severely hamper your meetings. Just do it old school with a pad and pen, it really works much better!
Web design build questions to ask new clients
What do you want the web site to do for your company?
(is it to just promote brand awareness and for people who hear about them and then go to their site, will people be finding them through search engines, is it existing clients looking for support or news, are you selling online, are you offering downloads, company reports etc)
Who is your target audience (age / level of internet experience etc)?
(Do they require a modern, fast paced, highly graphical site to target the younger generation or a more user friendly site for the less experienced or older internet users. )
What image do you want to portray (Professional / Casual / cutting edge etc)?
(Some sites use white space and limited text to give a relaxed feel while others use lots of images and text to give the site a busy feel. Define the feel of the site)
If you have branding what colours, fonts, styles do you use?
(See business cards, letterheads etc). More often that not the sole trader will have no graphics, no logo and no identity so in these cases you need to ask the client for colour schemes they think fit with the ideas but also do market research on the competition because the client may not be right.
CORE QUESTIONS:
What do you absolutely definitely want on the site?
(This list could include blog, shopping cart, members log in, private areas, RSS feeds. Gallery newsletter, contact forms, advertising space, different languages, search facility, etc)
What would you like if possible/within budget?
What absolutely must be on the homepage and what is the order of priority?
(This is a core question and you should allow the client time to ponder and discuss this with you. Their answers here should define the position of the building blocks. The answers could be phone number, email, help icon, downloads, cart total, core product links etc.)
What must be visible at all times?
(Every page has a fold. A fold is below the visual part of the page and requires you to scroll down to see it. I have a height I use but you should decide for yourself where it should be. The client must understand this and agree what can go above and below).
How many links will be needed and how many levels of navigation will there be?
(You need to understand the journey paths and decide how far down the link structure will go (level one, level two, level three etc)
If the business has different sections and each wants its own presence on the page which business sections would get the best locations?
Is there any content that may require a database or scripting?
(Contact forms, shopping carts, newsletters etc)
Who are your competitors?
(Supply some URL’s of competitors that you think sell your product type well)
Do your competitors use something on their site that you really like?
(Could be navigation structure, form layout etc)
What do you offer that the competition doesn’t?
(This often makes the client think about his own business in a new way and I’ve started a new path for a few businesses with this one!)
List 5 general sites that they like and why do they like them?
(This could be navigation method, colour scheme, fonts etc.)
Do you have any text/copy / graphics / Logos for the site?
Will they be supplying the text in a ready to go copy/paste format or will someone have to input all their text into the site from paper etc. Likewise will we need to outsource all the imagery from other sources or do they have their own graphics that need to be included. Will we need to input all the links?
Will you require space on pages for external/internal advertising (If yes what types)?
Header ads, sidebar ads, ads in the content etc.
When do you want it finished and who is going to be updating the pages.
What is their level of experience?
What are your main products and/or services?
For each explain what you would want you visitors to do, (sign-up, purchase, contact you, etc.). i.e. a call-to-action for each.
What are the main categories of information you want to publish?
(Time-sensitive like news & events? Product or service descriptions? Case studies / Success Stories? Careers information? Special offers?)
How would you like to communicate with you visitors? (Telephone, Email, Live Chat, Blog’s or discussions, Mailing list, Brochure/magazines)
Shopping Cart questions
Do you want to offer real time shipping?
Do you want the consumer to sign in or log-in?
Do you need cross selling?
Do you need to offer unlimited products?
Do you need unlimited categories?
How will you charge for shipping?
How will you charge for taxes
Blog’s
Will there be multiple authors?
Should the site clearly be displaying author info?
Are there multiple styles of blog posts, like longer feature posts and shorter quick posts?
What other kind of content will be on the site?
Does the site need to accommodate for advertising?
(What type? Sizes? )
Do you plan to use categories? tags? both?
How do you want to handle archives?
How do you want to handle search?
Are you going to be presenting source code in the posts?
Are there any other blog’s that you really like?
Content Management Systems
Do you require multiple levels of access?
Does the new content need final approval before being published?
Will they want simple content editors or web developers to change styles?
So I have the web build answers…now what?
I usually start with scribbles on a napkin or pad. Seriously if you start sketching out as the client is answering your questions you quickly get a feel for the blocks and usually when I leave the client I already have sketched out where the blocks need to go.
Hopefully you’ve read my usability blog post ( http://www.simonday.com/web-design-blog/2009/05/06/using-eye-tracking-to-enhance-sales-and-usability/ ) and you have a basic understanding of where the important blocks need to go. I then sit in the nearest cafe with my laptop or go straight home and start building a basic wire frame based on the sketches but in this one I start playing with spacing, widths, heights margins and padding’s based on the priorities the client gave. The tool you can use for this can vary. I use Photoshop but you could use pretty much any paint package, PowerPoint etc.
Here is an example of a block wire frame I made for a client recently who runs a subscription based site:
Once the client agrees with the position and prominence of the blocks I can start thinking of the graphics. This is where your preferred way of building a site comes into play but the difference between how you did it before and now is you have the building blocks in front of you and with the answers to your questions beside you it should be a much simpler process than ever before.
The visual wire frame should include the effects on the page. For example if your navigation has a mouse over then have that mouseover on “one” of the links. Likewise for active stats etc. If the effect is transitional then try to give a example web page with it working or give a detailed description.
The visual wire frame may be overboard for some of you but for me it is easier to modify a PDF than a pixel perfect web page. A client can often try and change the layout after looking at it for a while and while I’m in the PSD stage I’m happy to accommodate this. Once the visual wire frame has been agreed then the build begins and any changes after that point will incur costs. The client can’t really argue because they have already agreed to the block wire frame and visual wire frame so it is a lot easier to ask for extra costs when you’re at the final stage of the contract.
I wish I had this list when I first started and I hope my years of building and updating this document helps you.
Network with Simon on LinkedIn ~ Twitter ~ freelancer homepage.
At least in the area I am residing in now it’s pretty much impossible to do just clientside (XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript) so in a way you’re lucky you get to do what you like. You certainly have your questions lined up…perhaps though you should offer a slimmed down version for clients who have the money though aren’t as prepared to answer all those questions? Good work nonetheless.
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Hi, good post. I have been woondering about this issue,so thanks for posting. I’ll definitely be coming back to your site.
Thank you so much for posting this. I just recently started going after freelance jobs online and this will be a big help. I also currently work for a web design firm for Financial advisors using a template based system. The creative process is so different for everyone and sometimes it’s difficult for people to verbalize their vision of what they think they want in a website and for me just having the right questions to ask is so key. Blue to you is turquoise to some…does that make sense? One thing I’ve learned while working with people and design is your idea of what looks horrible..may look amazing to someone else. I’ve had clients request just plain ugly designs. I’ll probably never get used to it. Big fonts, clashing colors, loud music and flashing animated graphics. These are things some people will never let go of no matter how we advise them to stay clear. I aim to please but ouch sometimes I can’t help but wonder if some people are color blind or just blind period.
Anyway, I linked your post on my website and Thanx again for sharing your knowledge.
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Thank you very much for given this useful post…
I actually came to this article via DivaGeek — it is a great and thorough list of questions. Thank you! My friend is starting her own wine bar and we are trying to come up with a good design for the website. This will help tremendously! There is really an art to asking the right questions to find the look that the client is hoping for.
Crikey, this is useful! Many thanks.
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Excellent post, thank you!
Thanks for sharing this info post.
Thanks for posting. Exactly what I was looking for
oww really good collection.thnaks for sharing.
Excellent set of questions, I always like to have something written down to take with me or send to the client before meeting them to get them at least thinking of what they might like. Nothing worse than blank faces!
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Nice one, It really can help determine the stuff clients often forget about! This questions are core for good relationship between client and designer, and are most necessary for completion of the page! If You don’t have clear vision of the project, it’s bound to go downhill!
Thank you for the kind words! It’s made a big difference for me and staring at a blank screen is now rare thanks to this
Many thanks for this very interesting post. This will help a lot of people…
Great post. Tnx. Gonna use some of these questions today!
I’m really pleased you like the list. Good luck with the client!
Great post…Thanks for sharing this post
Thanks for the helpful post
I’m designing a website for an attorney- he’s due to call about ten minutes ago so I could ask him some things, and I realized I had no idea what I needed to know.
Thankfully, I had enough sense to Google it about twenty minutes ago and get my crap together!
Thanks again.
hi, Congratulations for your post. It helped me a lot. I am needing to learn some processes in order to start defining an efficient workflow for the company i work. My bosses are very busy peopple and they haven’t the time do do this, and working without these guides was very bad for me. I belive this will improve my workflow by 60%, and i don’t even know how i was working without these briefing before.
I feel like some of these questions are more for the designer, AI, UX to define than the client.
If clients knew how to answer things like what need to be on the home page, how many links and how deep the website goes, then they would not need your services.
Thanks for the comment Mike and you are almost correct in saying this is more for the designer. How many of us get a job and then sit there staring at a blank canvas wondering how to build a website with almost no content and no requirements? I know I used to have this issue. These questions allow you to understand where the client is coming from and what they feel are the important aspects of their business. They know their business much better than us and we know how to build a site much better than them.
By asking these questions it is far easier to combine the two elements into something that both parties agree on. It saves a lot of rejected wireframes because you will already know how important the elements are and position them according to the answers given.
I’ve used these questions on everything from mom and pop shops to sites with multi million pound turnovers. It doesn’t matter how large or small the business is because the questions cater for all types. I’ve never stared at a blank canvas since asking these questions
a web site is not just a commodity for businesses nowadays, but a must. A company or a professional without a web site is like a salesman without his business card. The web site needs to be your profile and what’s good about it is that there is limitless information you can put on it. Another good thing is that static content on your site can be changed very easily. Even better, you can opt to go for a dynamic site which will automatically change your content based on changes to your business, like stock items, prices, articles, services and more.
john
valuable info especially for beginners like me. many thanks!
dirk_flail@yahoo.com
I believe that as a designer, it’s very important to know the details of what the client wants for a website. There is a need for the designer to ask questions so that he/she will meet the expectations of the client. Thank you for this post! This is really helpful.
This is amzingly useful for the new web designer.
David.
Thanks for this wonderful post. I have started a web designing firm and was looking for questions that needs to be asked to the client at the time of booking. I got this article and it had all what i needed… Thanks a lot.
This is one of the biggest problem web designers face and I
completely agree with the author that if you can ask the right
questions then 85% job is done. Its not like that designers or
developers can’t deliver the ideas but most of the problems we have
seen is miss communication between 2 parties and that causes lot of
problems and ends up with frustrating clients and site not
delivered. I believe that clear communication is the core of this
business and understanding the needs of the clients and only say
“Yes I understand” only when you really understand instead of just
saying so. We look forward for more comments on this topic and keep
us posted on http://www.aztechdesigns.co.uk
Thanks for the post! I’ve already found this to be very useful. Will definitely be back to your site in the future!
Just created a new article for Asking the right questions from the client for the web designing community. Would love to hear thoughts from all the visitors and see what we can add to the article and make it useful from all the combined experience we all have.
http://www.aztechdesigns.co.uk/blog/website-designing-questions/
Thanks for the great list of questions. This will help big time for my new client!
this is a Excellent set of questions, I always like to have something written down to take with me or send to the client before meeting them to get them at least thinking of what they might like. Nothing worse than blank faces
Brilliant and importantly explained, i note the ‘level of experience’ question from experience has become very important to ask!
Thanks for this. As a fellow web developer, I know how frustrating it is trying to get a client to fully think out what it is that they want/need in their site.
Great list, but how many clients do you actually have that can answer even half of the core questions? I can think of many SMB’s that could not even answer half of the core questions. In a perfect world where the website is the core of what they do sure, but most clients what they are concerned about is price and when can it be done. They are not concerned with what the navigation is going to be. That is what they are paying me to do. If they are great, but I would not even think about asking about it unless I get a sense that they are interested in working on that with me.
Hi Lee,
Most clients can answer enough for me to formulate the layout. It is also often thought provoking and makes then think of things they hadn’t realised. This isn’t something you need to use all the time but I find it really helps in avoiding the dreaded blank screen
I am going to use this list. I have built a few website and have just made a quick list to use but this covers everything you will need! Thank you!