How to Test a Website During the Development Phase: A Guide for Clients

When you're working with a team to build your website, it's natural to get excited and want everything perfect from day one. But web development follows a structured process, and jumping ahead can cause confusion, delays, and frustration on both sides. Here's what to expect and how you can give helpful feedback during the development process.

Understanding the Development Phases

Before diving into how to test your website, it's important to understand how we work:

1. Desktop First
   We always design and develop the desktop version first. This includes the overall layout, all internal pages, and fine-tuning things like fonts, colours, and images. This is not to be confused with the fact that the framework itself is mobile first.

2. Mobile Comes Later
   Mobile optimisation happens after the desktop version is approved. If you're checking the website during the early stages and it doesn't look great on your phone yet, that's expected! We'll sort mobile responsiveness once the desktop is finalised.

3. Speed and Performance? Not Yet
   Similarly, performance tweaks like speed optimisation and intuitive flow aren't part of the early builds. These are addressed towards the final phase after design and content are locked in.

What to Focus On During Initial Testing

When we send you an early draft of your website, we're not looking for comments on speed, responsiveness, or how things work on mobile. At this stage, your feedback should focus on the following:

• Overall layout and structure
• Colour choices
• Font styles and sizes
• Image placement and style
• Whether the direction feels right for your brand

Keeping feedback focused helps our team stay productive and motivated, and helps avoid misunderstandings or unnecessary rework.

What Not to Worry About Just Yet

Clients often raise concerns during the early stages that aren't relevant yet. Here’s what you don’t need to check at this point:

• Page loading speed
• Mobile layout and responsiveness
• Final animations or transitions
• Polished interactions and button behaviours

All of that comes later, and we promise we’ll get to it. However, reviewing those elements too early only adds confusion and slows progress.

Why Focused Feedback Matters

We ask for targeted feedback during each phase because that’s how we build great websites efficiently. When clients start commenting on things that haven’t been worked on yet, it can lead to confusion, and delays, and even demotivate the developers.

By sticking to the current phase and providing clear feedback on only what’s been completed, we can keep things smooth, collaborative, and productive.

Summary: How to Help Us Help You

Here’s a quick recap on how to test a website during development:

• Wait until the desktop version is complete before asking about mobile.
• Don’t worry about speed or responsiveness in early drafts.
• Focus only on layout, colours, fonts, and images when we ask for initial feedback.
• Trust the process, we’ll get to everything in the right order.

At the end of the day, Pressific is here to build you something great. And when we work together phase by phase, we can make it happen smoothly, efficiently, and without stress.