How to Check If Your Website Design Is Working: A Non-Designer’s Guide
You don’t need to be a designer to evaluate your website. This guide shows simple tests to understand what’s working and what needs fixing.
You’re not a designer. You’re a founder, marketer, or product manager who built a website (or had one built) and now you’re wondering: is this actually good?
You can tell when something looks “off,” but you can’t articulate why.
This guide is different. No jargon. No design theory. Just practical checks you can run right now.
What “Working” Actually Means
A website design is “working” when it does three things:
Visitors understand what you offer within 5 seconds
Visitors can find the next step
Visitors trust you enough to take that step
Check 1: The “What Is This?” Test
Open your website. Look at just the first screen.
Check 2: The “Where Do I Click?” Test
Look at your page and find the main action button.
Check 3: The “Do I Trust This?” Test
Look at your page as a skeptical first-time visitor.
Check 4: The Phone Test
Open your website on your phone.
Check 5: The “Squint” Test
Lean back and squint at your page.
Check 6: The “Read It Out Loud” Test
Read your page content out loud.
Check 7: The Comparison Test
Open your website and a competitor’s website side by side.
Conclusion
You don’t need to be a designer to evaluate your website.
You need to see it through your visitors’ eyes.