---
title: 15 Essential Questions for Web Designers and Developers
url: https://www.haketi.com/15-essential-questions-for-web-designers-and-developers/
date: 2025-11-07T15:34:48+00:00
modified: 2026-09-18T17:55:44+00:00
lang: en_US
---

# 15 Essential Questions for Web Designers and Developers

In the web design industry, not all "developers" are created equal. It is a frequent problem, particularly with agencies that originate from a pure marketing background, to find teams that lack a deep understanding of code, architecture, or user experience (UX). They may be adept at using visual page builders—what we call "clicking on the computer"—or "vibing code" without a grasp of the fundamental principles.

This approach creates significant long-term problems. You are often left with a website that is bloated, slow, difficult to maintain, and poorly structured for search engines.

At Haketi, we believe a professional website is built on a foundation of technical excellence and strategic design. To help you identify a truly skilled partner, we have compiled essential questions to ask both web designers and web developers.

## Understanding the Roles

First, it is crucial to know who you are talking to. While the roles can overlap, they have distinct specializations:

- **Web Designers** are the architects of the user's experience. They focus on **User Experience (UX)**—the flow and feel of the site—and **User Interface (UI)**—the visual look, branding, and interactivity. They determine *how* a user interacts with your site.
- **Web Developers** are the engineers. They take the design and build a functional, secure, and fast website. They write the code—**HTML, CSS, and JavaScript**—that powers everything from the layout to the contact forms.

You need experts in both fields. Here are the questions to ask them.

## 7 Questions to Ask Your Web Designer

These questions target their strategic process, not just their artistic eye.

1. **"Can you walk me through your design process from discovery to handoff?"**
   - **What to listen for:** Look for a structured process that includes more than just "making mockups." A professional answer should involve a **discovery phase** (understanding your goals), **user research**, **wireframing** (low-fidelity blueprints), **UI design** (high-fidelity mockups), and **prototyping** before a single line of code is written.
2. **"How do you approach mobile-first design?"**
   - **What to listen for:** The key phrase is **"mobile-first,"** not just "mobile-responsive." This means they design for the smallest screen (a phone) *first* and then adapt the design for larger screens. This is a critical practice for both modern UX and Google's ranking algorithms.
3. **"What is your process for ensuring the website is accessible (WCAG compliant)?"**
   - **What to listen for:** This question can instantly reveal an amateur. A professional will immediately understand you are referring to the **Web Content Accessibility Guidelines**. They should mention designing for **color contrast**, **keyboard navigation**, **readable font sizes**, and proper **semantic structure** for screen readers.
4. **"How do you incorporate our business goals and SEO strategy into the design?"**
   - **What to listen for:** The design should serve a business purpose. They should ask about your **Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)**. They should also talk about designing clear **calls-to-action (CTAs)** and creating intuitive navigation that helps users (and Google) understand your site's hierarchy.
5. **"What tools do you use for wireframing and prototyping?"**
   - **What to listen for:** You want to hear industry-standard tools like **Figma**, **Sketch**, **Relume**, or **Adobe XD**. This shows they work within a professional ecosystem. If they say "Photoshop" or "we just build it and see," that is a major red flag. Photoshop was "the tool" more than 15 years ago. But today, we have better tools for UX and UI design.
6. **"How do you test your designs with real users?"**
   - **What to listen for:** While full-scale usability testing is not always in budget, a good designer should have a process for gathering feedback. This could range from informal tests with colleagues to moderated user testing sessions. They should be focused on data, not just their own opinion.
7. **"Can you explain your reasoning for the UX/UI choices in a project from your portfolio?"**
   - **What to listen for:** Ask them to defend their work. "Because it looks nice" is not an answer. A great answer sounds like: "We placed the CTA here because user data showed this is where the eye tracks, and we used this color to create a clear visual hierarchy that guides the user to the conversion point."

## 8 Questions to Ask Your Web Developer

These questions test their technical skill and ability to write clean, secure code.

1. **"Can you describe your core competencies with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript?"**
   - **What to listen for:** You are not testing their ability to code on the spot, but their ability to articulate *how* they use these tools. A strong developer will talk about writing **semantic HTML** (using tags like `<nav>`, `<article>`, `<section>` instead of just `<div>`), modern **CSS** (like Flexbox or Grid), and efficient, clean **JavaScript** (not just relying on bloated libraries for simple tasks).
2. **"How do you optimize a website for performance and Core Web Vitals?"**
   - **What to listen for:** This is a critical SEO question. A professional will immediately reference **Core Web Vitals (LCP, FID, CLS)**. They should list specific techniques like **image optimization** (e.g., WebP format), **code minification**, **browser caching**, **lazy loading**, and reducing server requests.
3. **"What is your process for version control?"**
   - **What to listen for:** The only acceptable answer is **"Git."** If they say they "use FTP and keep backups" or "work on the live server," you should end the meeting. A lack of version control is the hallmark of an amateur and leads to broken sites and lost work.
4. **"How do you ensure the websites you build are secure?"**
   - **What to listen for:** A good answer goes beyond "we install an SSL certificate." They should mention **sanitizing user inputs** (to prevent XSS and SQL injection), keeping all platforms and plugins updated, using secure passwords, and potentially implementing a **Content Security Policy (CSP)**.
5. **"Do you build custom themes, or do you customize pre-built templates?"**
   - **What to listen for:** There is no single "right" answer, but you need to know what you are paying for. A pre-built template or page builder can be fast, but it is often bloated with unused code that hurts performance. A **custom-built theme** is tailored to your exact needs, resulting in a cleaner, faster, and more scalable website. Be wary of anyone who relies *exclusively* on page builders.
6. **"How do you write code that is maintainable and scalable?"**
   - **What to listen for:** You want to know if they are building a house of cards. They should talk about **commenting their code**, following a consistent coding standard or **style guide**, and writing **modular code** (CSS or JavaScript) that can be easily updated or expanded later without breaking the entire site.
7. **"How do you test a website before launch?"**
   - **What to listen for:** A professional has a clear Quality Assurance (QA) process. They should mention **cross-browser testing** (Chrome, Firefox, Safari), testing on **multiple devices** (iOS, Android, desktop), and testing all functionality, from contact forms to links.
8. **"Can you show me a site you built and explain how you structured the HTML for SEO?"**
   - **What to listen for:** Ask them to "view source" or "inspect element" on a site they built. They should be able to point out their proper use of **heading tags (H1, H2, H3)**, how they implemented **alt text** for images, and how the **semantic HTML** structure they chose helps search engines understand the content.

Asking these questions will help you filter out the "clickers" from the true professionals. A partner who can answer them confidently is one who will build a website that is not just beautiful, but also a secure, high-performing asset for your business.