Question for designers
 

I'm considering having my next site professionally designed. I would like to know what questions I should ask prospective buyers before purchasing their services and secondly, what would a designer need from me (besides money) to make the job go smoothly?

Thanks!

Designers like to know what their client is expecting, as much as possible, so, they can do the whole job right at once, they don't like deadlines, it's better to do a design one hour daily for the whole week than all in one day... it allows to rethink the things. Also take someone that has sites that you like in his portfolio.

If you are talking about a large serious website, get a home phone number (not a mobile) and an address. Run, don't walk from anyone that insists everything be done over email. If you search online you'll see lots of stories of people who hired a web designer that suddenly disappeared.

Ask him where he gets his web design ideas from. Also ask how he protects against SQL injection.

An experienced web designer will be able to give you a timetable for completion based on your detailed requirements.