Process
From first conversation to live site.
Eight stages, in order. Most of what decides whether a website works is settled in the first three, before any visual design happens.
Structure first. Design second. Both before code.
- 01
Discovery
Understand the business before designing anything.
What the business sells, who it sells to, how people currently find it, and what visitors need to be able to do. Where a site already exists, we review its structure, speed, mobile behaviour and search visibility.
Output — A written summary of goals, audience and scope.
- 02
Structure
Decide what the site contains and in what order.
Pages, navigation and the hierarchy within each page. This is where most of the value is decided — a clear structure makes design straightforward, and no amount of visual polish rescues a confusing one.
Output — Sitemap and page-level content outlines.
- 03
Direction
Establish the visual language.
Typography, spacing, colour, imagery and tone, applied to a key page or two so the direction can be judged as a real layout rather than as a mood board.
Output — Design direction applied to primary pages.
- 04
Design
Design the full set of pages and states.
Every page designed at mobile and desktop, including the states that get forgotten: empty results, form errors, long content, short content.
Output — Complete page designs across breakpoints.
- 05
Build
Develop the site to match, responsively.
Clean, component-based front-end development with accessibility and performance handled as the work is done rather than audited at the end. Content is loaded and reviewed in place.
Output — A working site on a staging URL.
- 06
Testing
Check it properly, on real devices.
Cross-browser and cross-device testing, keyboard navigation, form handling, page speed and metadata. Then a review pass with you before anything goes live.
Output — A tested site and a resolved review list.
- 07
Launch
Go live without losing what already worked.
Domain and hosting setup, redirects from old URLs where relevant, analytics, search console, and a walkthrough so you can manage what you need to manage.
Output — A live site, with handover and documentation.
- 08
Improve
Keep it current.
Monitoring, updates and ongoing changes. Small improvements are handled continuously, which is what keeps a site from needing a full rebuild in three years.
Output — Ongoing maintenance and a route for changes.
Start a project
Start at stage one.
Discovery is a conversation about the business, not a questionnaire.