How to Review a Website Design Draft (Without Saying "Make It Pop")

The first time you see a draft of your new website is exciting, and a little nerve-racking. Something about it feels off, or the colors aren't what you pictured, or you love it but your business partner doesn't. Then you have to turn all of that into an email.

That email matters more than most people realize. Clear feedback can turn a draft into a finished design in one round. Vague feedback can turn it into four.

The short answer: review a design against what the site is supposed to do, not against your personal taste. Look at it on your phone first. When something bothers you, describe the problem ("I can't tell how to book an appointment") rather than prescribing a fix ("make the button red"). Ignore placeholder text and photos for now. And gather everyone's notes into one list from one decision-maker before you send them.

Before you look: remember what the site is for

Every website project should start with a short list of jobs the site has to do: get the phone to ring, book appointments, sell products, answer common questions. We cover that in what a website project looks like, from kickoff to launch.

Keep that list next to you when you review. The researchers at Nielsen Norman Group, who study how people use websites, put it bluntly: without agreed goals, design feedback is "subjective and baseless." The question isn't "Do I like it?" It's "Will this help a customer do the thing we need them to do?"

First pass: your phone, five seconds

Open the draft on your phone, the way most of your customers will see it. Look at the first screen for about five seconds, then look away and ask yourself:

• What does this business do? Could a stranger tell?
• Where is it? Is your town or service area obvious?
• What should I do next? Is there one clear action, like call, book or shop?

If any of those answers is fuzzy, that's your most important note. Everything else is secondary.

Second pass: go through it like a customer

Now use the draft as if you were a customer with a specific goal. Try to find your hours. Try to book something. Try to find a price, or a phone number, or directions. Note anywhere you hesitated, got lost or had to scroll more than you expected.

If some of your customers are older, hand the phone to a parent or grandparent and watch, without helping. It's one of the most useful tests there is, as we explain in designing websites for older adults.

Describe the problem, not the fix

This is the single most useful habit for reviewing any design.

When something bothers you, your first instinct is usually a fix: bigger, redder, move it up. But the fix you picture is only one way to solve the problem, and often not the best one. "Make the button red" might fix a button nobody notices, or it might clash with everything around it. "I didn't notice the Book Now button until I scrolled" tells the designer exactly what's wrong and leaves room for the best solution, which might be moving it, resizing it, or removing the clutter around it.

Nielsen Norman Group makes the same point from the designer's side: even when a suggested solution isn't a good fit, "the problem addressed is important." A good designer will always ask what's behind a request. You can save a round by saying it up front.

The same goes for comparisons. "Make it look like this other site" is hard to act on. "I like how this other site shows prices on the first screen" is easy.

Separate taste from function

Some reactions are about whether the site works. Others are about personal taste. Both are valid, but they deserve different weight.

Function is things like: I can't read this text, I can't find the phone number, this photo doesn't show what we do, this makes us look like a different kind of business.

Taste is things like: I don't love this shade of green, I prefer rounded corners.

Raise both, but say which is which. A designer will fix a function problem every time. On taste, they may explain why a choice was made, often for readability, contrast or consistency with your brand, and you can decide together.

One functional note is always worth raising: if any text is hard to read, say so. Light gray text on white is the most common accessibility failure on the web, and it's a legal issue for some organizations as well as a design one. Our post on website accessibility and the ADA in 2026 has more.

Send one list, from one person

Most projects that stall at the design stage don't stall because the feedback was wrong. They stall because it arrived in pieces: three emails from the owner, a text from the office manager, a comment from a partner that contradicts both.

A few habits keep things moving:

• Pick one decision-maker. Gather everyone's input, but have one person resolve disagreements and send the final notes.
• Send one consolidated list. Number your points so each one can be answered and checked off.
• Point to the exact spot. "Homepage, the second section, the photo on the right" is clearer than "that photo." A screenshot with a circle works even better.
• Say what you like, too. Knowing what's working is how a designer avoids accidentally changing it.
• Ask questions. "Why is the menu on the left?" is a perfectly good note. There's usually a reason, and if there isn't, it's worth finding out.

A simple template

If you're not sure how to structure your notes, try this for each point:

1. Where: the page and the section.
2. What I noticed: what you saw, felt or couldn't find.
3. Why it matters: the customer or business goal it affects.
4. Idea (optional): a possible fix, offered as a suggestion rather than an instruction.

For example: "Homepage, first screen. I couldn't tell we serve Bucks County, not just Easton. A lot of our calls come from Doylestown. Maybe add our service area near the top?"

That note can be acted on in minutes, and it will probably make the site better than the fix you had in mind.

If you're planning a new site, our website development and hosting page explains how we run reviews, including staging sites you can review on your own phone before anything goes live.

Sources

• Nielsen Norman Group, Design Critiques: Encourage a Positive Culture to Improve Products (Sarah Gibbons)
• Nielsen Norman Group, How to Deal With Bad Design Suggestions (Kara Pernice and Kathryn Whitenton)
• WebAIM, The WebAIM Million: 2026 report