Running feedback on a website redesign without endless rounds

By the HTMLAnnotate team14 November 20263 min read

Redesigns attract more opinions than new builds. Everyone has lived with the old site, everyone has a favourite page, and the CEO sees it for the first time in round four. A clear round structure, with the right people at the right time, keeps it moving.

Why redesigns get stuck

• Attachment to the old site. People know where everything was, and change feels like loss even when the new version is better.
• Too many reviewers at once, each reacting to different things at different levels of detail.
• Late arrivals. A senior person who skipped rounds one to three resets the project in round four.
• Mixed questions. A round that asks for thoughts on structure, colour and wording all at once gets feedback on wording, and the structural problems slip through.

Before round one

• Write down the goals. Two or three things the redesign must achieve, such as more enquiries, an easier way to update content, or a look that matches the new brand. Later feedback is judged against these.
• List what to keep. Pages that rank well in search, content customers rely on, features that work. A redesign that loses these costs more than it gains.
• Agree who decides. One person who has the final say, and a list of who reviews which rounds.

A round structure that works

Each round can have one or two passes. Keep the sitemap settled by the end of round one, so round two can focus on the look.

Get the senior people in early

The most expensive feedback is a big change from someone senior who arrives late. Ask every person who could veto the result to look at round one, even for fifteen minutes. Their early "yes" on structure and direction is what lets later rounds stay small.

Collect each round in one place

With five reviewers, feedback by email means five threads, contradicting each other, about slightly different versions. Put each round on one review link where everyone comments on the page itself. Reviewers see each other's notes, so they can agree or disagree in the thread instead of in separate emails, and you see the whole round at once.

Ask reviewers to check the phone view in rounds two and four. Redesigns often look right on a big screen and fall apart on a phone, where most visitors will see them.

Close every round

1. Resolve every comment, with a reply saying what was done or why not.
2. Send a short summary: what was decided, what changed, what's next.
3. Get a clear "yes" from the decision-maker before moving on.

That summary is what you point to when a closed decision comes back. Reopening it is fine, but it is a change, with its own time and cost.

Handling "the old one was better"

Take it seriously, then make it specific. Ask what the old version did that the new one doesn't: was it easier to find something, did a page explain more, did it feel more like the company? Often there is a real point underneath, such as a missing link or a lost piece of content, which can be fixed without undoing the design. If it's habit, show how the new version meets the goals you wrote down at the start.

For setting how many rounds each stage gets, see how many revision rounds a website project should include, and for turning unclear comments into changes, what to do with vague client feedback.

Questions