Web developer-client collaboration has become the most important focal point of web development. Collaborating with clients effectively allows the developers to build websites that are better suited to the business or personal requirements. After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, web developer-client collaboration has become remote and has made web development collaboration more personal.

In this DesignYourWay article, we will understand how important client feedback is in the process of web development, how to manage web design feedback, and some best practices to improve web developer-client collaboration.

Let’s get straight into it.

Collaboration and feedback

Feedback is the most important part of any kind of collaboration. In fact, when we say “web developer-client collaboration”, we implicitly mean that the developer and the client are exchanging feedback. Web design feedback from the client is irreplaceable for the developer and helps in numerous ways.

• It gives the process direction. The client’s feedback makes sure the project proceeds in the desired direction. The end goal is to build a website that is good for business, in most cases.
• It helps both parties avoid confusion. If there is a disconnection, proper feedback exchange helps both developer and client get on the same page. For example, if the client wants a dynamic website and the developer was working on a static one, it won’t be satisfactory for either.
• It helps the developer work faster. More feedback means more useful information. If the web developer gets more information on what to build through remote client collaboration, the website gets built faster.
• It saves lots of resources. Time and developer hours are the most valuable resources that no one wants to waste. You can always get more money, but you are always on a limited time limit.

Now that we made it clear that feedback is important in web developer-client collaboration, it should also be understood which areas feedback is required.

• Brand identity: The website needs to have some sort of uniformity that makes it related to the brand that it is promoting. It could be logos, font, theme colors, etc. To make sure that the design is good, use effective tools like DesignYourWay.
• Ease of browsing: When visitors land on the website of your client, you should make sure they had a good time.
• Skimmability: If there is a lot of information on the screen before the reader, it will make them irritated. The website should be scannable and scrollable at that.
• Future scope: No one wants a website that cannot incorporate future requirements. The developer and client should ensure that the website can grow.
• Functionalities: Every button, feature, etc., should work as intended. In the case of web apps, thorough testing is needed.

In every instance where the web developer-client gets together to share feedback, they must discuss the above areas. They can add more points to the list, based on their requirements of web development collaboration.

Managing web design feedback

Getting a lot of feedback and doing nothing is the same as not getting any kind of feedback at all. Receiving web design feedback is the first step of the process. The next steps are getting it prioritized, taking tasks on that, and making sure that the query/issue in the feedback is resolved for good. In the process of web developer-client collaboration, there are two kinds of feedback classified on functionality: visual-based and performance-based. When the client gives feedback on the basis of how the website works/feels, etc, then it is performance-based. It is related to the code of the website. When the client provides feedback on the basis of what appears on the website, it is visual-based. Generally, the web designer/admin deals with it.

The types of feedback can be classified on many things, there was just one example in the previous paragraph. So, how to receive/record this information? Have a website issue tracker, simple!

Website issue trackers help you manage web development issues in the following ways:

• Collating feedback and details: All of the received feedback is put in one place. It helps everyone involved stay updated in that regard. As the issue in the feedback is worked upon, all of the details can be stored in one place for better tracking.
• Prioritize feedback: Not all feedback is a top priority. Some of them need to be resolved first and some can wait a bit. Prioritization of feedback is important because resources are limited.
• Assigning tasks: It has happened sometimes when two individuals have been working on the same task. This makes the whole process slower and inefficient.
• Collaborating and communicating: Communicating through email chains and messaging apps can be hectic when there are multiple areas of conversation. Video calls make the process tiresome if there is a time difference. Website issue trackers make the process of web developer-client collaboration simpler.

Best practices

Thanks to cloud computing and the internet, building websites has become easier and easier. Now, the only area of challenge is web developer-client collaboration. Here are a few best practices that can be put into practice by both:

• Set expectations clearly from the start.
• Communicate periodically and exchange feedback.
• Have specified tools for collaboration.
• Don’t use industry jargon while exchanging feedback.
• Make sure the timelines and resources are reasonable.
• Record every feedback, issue, and bug.
• Use a website tracking tool.
• Take help from designing websites for templates.
• Based on the website, create a testing checklist.
• Test often and record the results.

Wrapping up

Developing a website depends on how well the developer and the client communicate. Web developer-client collaboration determines how fast the website will be built and how useful it will be for the client’s business. The primary facet of collaboration is feedback. Feedback is shared by both sides as the project progresses.

Making sure that the feedback is relevant, prioritized, acted upon, and recorded helps both the client and the developer finish up the task early.