Providing Feedback for Your Utility’s Web Design Project
How to Provide Project Feedback
Designing a new website is an exciting endeavor, but it’s often more complicated than you may initially expect. One of the most common challenges we encounter is how to communicate and coordinate design feedback between thewebsite design production team and key stakeholders of the new website for your utility organization. Here, we’ll discuss the best ways to give feedback, and some important mistakes to avoid in order to ensure the successful implementation of your utility’s new web design.
Stakeholders & Primary Points of Contact
Any project involves stakeholders who wield their influence to help make key decisions. Internal deliberations within your utility organization are a necessary part of building a new website for your utility, but when it comes time to communicate wants and needs it’s paramount that you do so with a single voice, through a designated person empowered to speak for the group.
Communication between teams of people across different departments within your utility organization can quickly become messy and confusing if not properly organized beforehand, and this is the number one issue we have seen in the past. When you begin work on your new website, one of our Project Managers will be assigned to your project. From that point all the way through the launch of the website, your Project Manager will be your primary point of contact and act as a liaison between your designated team leader and the rest of the Powerful web team.
Conversations Versus Decisions
There are a number of meetings that take place during the life cycle of your project. Your Project Manager will lead these calls, bringing a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the conversation, but it is encouraged to have numerous voices chime in with thoughts and ideas about the website. A free-flowing conversation, with lots of questions and brainstorming helps everyone feel heard and included. But when it comes time for official decisions to be made, that is when your team should speak in a unified voice in order to avoid sending contradictory instructions.
Types of Communication
Your Project Manager will document all communications to help stay organized and reference past conversations when needed. With that in mind, the best ways to communicate with your Project Manager are:
This is the most common form of communication during a project, as it is quick and easy. Because it is text based, it allows everyone involved with the project to reference past communications. This can be critically important, not just for our team to reference when executing your decisions, but also so everyone has a documented, shared understanding of what has been communicated.
Video Conference
Your Project Manager will set up a virtual conference room through Zoom for important meetings and presentations. It’s always beneficial to have “face to face” meetings, as nuance is sometimes missed over email. Having a chance to see each other, read body language, and learn everyone’s personality helps build trust and adds more cohesion.
These video calls are always recorded and sent to you afterwards, so that all parties involved can review and reference it as needed, just like email.
Phone Call
Less ideal, since these conversations aren’t recorded, but still totally acceptable if that is your preferred method. Rest assured, your Project Manager will diligently take notes during any phone calls to ensure no detail is forgotten. Afterwards, they will send you a follow-up email to recap what was said so everyone is on the same page.
Comment Portal
After we reveal your design, and later the fully built website, you will be given access to leave feedback directly on the website through a tool called Comment Portal. Your Project Manager will walk you through how to use it beforehand, but it’s quite simple to use and very convenient, as you can literally click anywhere on the page and leave a detailed note.
Conclusion
Effective communication is the at the heart of every successful website re-design. Designating a single person to speak for your utility’s group of stakeholders will help avoid miscommunications between your organization and your Project Manager, and diligent documentation of said communications creates mutual reference points that everyone has access to. By staying disciplined and organized with all communications, your project will go much smoother for everyone.
