Client told me my header was 'too busy' on a hotel website redesign

I was working on a site for a boutique hotel in Portland, and I crammed like five different fonts and a gradient into the main header. The client straight up said it looked like a pizza menu. I stripped it down to two fonts and a solid color block, and suddenly the booking button got 30% more clicks. Has anyone else had a client critique that actually saved them from themselves?

3 comments

3 Comments

faithrodriguez6d ago

The "broken TV" thing is brutal but honest. I think the angle nobody's talking about is how clients actually live with their own sites way more than we do. We design it, hand it off, and move on. They stare at that header every single day for years. So when they say something looks like a pizza menu or a broken TV, they're not just being mean. They're telling you what their actual customers have been hinting at but won't say out loud. That booking button jump proves they were right all along.

lucas9726d ago

Listen up because this is the truth. When a client says something looks like a pizza menu, they're doing you a favor by being blunt rather than dancing around it. A lot of designers get too attached to their own ideas and forget the site has to work for real people. That booking button jump is proof the client knew their audience better than you did. Take that feedback and run with it, don't fight it.

miller.paul7d ago

Used to fight every client note like they were personally attacking my design soul. Then a motel owner told me my color scheme looked "like a broken TV" and now I actually listen to them.