Eight questions to ask before you hire a web designer. The answers reveal the working style and assumptions that will determine whether your project goes smoothly or becomes a headache.
1. Who will actually be doing the work?
Many agencies sell work and then outsource it. The person pitching you may have nothing to do with your project. Ask directly: who codes the site? Who designs it? Will you ever talk to them? At Sparks Motion, the person you talk to is the person doing the work. No handoffs.
2. How do you handle scope changes?
Every project has changes. The question is how the designer handles them. Do they charge per hour? Per change? Do they have a defined revision process? "We'll figure it out" is not an answer. You want a process before you start, not a conversation when you're mid-project.
3. Can I see work for similar clients?
Portfolio work for professional services firms tells you whether this designer understands your context. A portfolio full of restaurants tells you nothing about whether they can build a law firm site. Ask to see relevant examples.
4. What happens when something breaks after launch?
Post-launch support is where many designer relationships fall apart. Get the answer in writing before you sign anything. What's covered? For how long? At what cost?
5. Who owns everything when we're done?
You should own your domain, your hosting account, your website files, and your content. Completely. A designer who holds your site on their hosting account or keeps your login credentials after handoff is a risk you don't need. Verify this before you start.
6. How do you price?
Hourly billing on a fixed-deadline project creates misaligned incentives. The designer is rewarded for taking longer. Flat-rate project pricing aligns incentives correctly — they want to finish efficiently, you want predictable costs. Ask how they price, not just how much.
7. What do you not do?
Every designer has a wheelhouse and a blind spot. A designer who claims to do everything usually does nothing especially well. Asking what they don't do reveals their actual focus and helps you understand what you might need to hire someone else for.
8. What's your communication style?
Weekly updates? On-demand check-ins? Email-only? Slack? Getting aligned on communication expectations before the project starts prevents the most common friction point in client-designer relationships. There's no right answer — only a compatible one.