Define. Design. Refine.
Website development has been called “the most hostile engineering environment imaginable.” That sounds scary, but it’s accurate. Websites are complicated — they have lots of moving parts that need constant attention.
The web design process is broken
Traditional web design
The traditional approach to website design involves all sorts of static files like wireframes, mood boards, mockups, and “stylescapes.” Unfortunately, few of these files are functional: you can’t click, slide, scroll, navigate, select, or resize. After a few weeks into your project, you’ve got a jumbled collection of files that you can’t make sense of.
A better way
By eliminating most of these questionable activities, our simplified 3-step design system shortens the whole development process by weeks. This saves you time, money, and frustration. It’s also really simple — First we make it work, then we make it work better. We call this “growth-driven web design.”
Growth-driven web design
Our simplified 3-step website design system.
01
Define the problem and solution
There’s no need for committees, teams, PowerPoint presentations, or Zoom calls. We start by answering a few simple questions:
- What is the problem?
- What resources (money, people, skills, time) are available to solve the problem?
- What skills and technology can you afford to provide a solution?
02
Design and development
Based on answers to the questions above, we begin building your website guided by the following principles:
- Design with the notion that parts other than HTML and CSS are optional.
- Execute core functionality using the simplest available technology.
- Provide a fully functional demonstration site to share progress.
- No more wireframes, cryptic PDFs, or baffling mockups to decipher and approve.
03
Refine and improve
High performance websites aren’t built overnight — They’re the result of hundreds of small refinements over time. That’s why we always include a post-launch support period to monitor site performance and make incremental site improvements. A few of the metrics we focus on are:
- Page speed and usability optimization
- Content review and refinement
- Website architecture and usability
Build a marketing machine
For a more in-depth look at the structure that guides our development and design decisions, please review our web design framework. It includes the six key elements necessary to position your website in the marketplace.
Where are the cat videos?
Except for you, no one is going to visit your website because of its cool design. People show up for the content and cat videos. Design makes the content easy to find and a pleasure to use, but it’s not what people are after. The Web is made of content. Design is what holds all that content in place.
