We take a 6 step approach to design websites for our clients:
Define the content and functionality needs for the website During the proposal stage of our process, we spend a lot of time listening to our clients. It's important for us to understand what they want (and more importantly need) out of their website.
Understand the client's likes (and dislikes) When it comes to design, everyone has their preferences. Our job is to take in the client's preferences and align those preferences with best practices as it relates to web design and usability.
Research & benchmark Our experience across a vast amount of industries helps us provide our clients with overall direction and advice on their website project. In addition, for each web design we create, we spend time to research & benchmark other websites within the industry of our client. This process helps us identify suggestions for the content outline, site layout and navigation structure, page titling (for Search Engine Optimization purposes), and other areas necessary for providing crucial content within your industry and differentiating yourself from your competitors.
Homepage web design Once a site outline (from the previous step) has been approved, we use it to construct a mockup design of the client's homepage. There are typically 3 rounds of design with feedback requested from the client after each round.
Subpage web design(s) While the layout of the homepage is typically different from the subpages, there are many elements of the homepage that remain the same throughout the rest of the site (i.e. header / navigation, logo placement, footer, website background, font selections, etc). We use these elements to create consistency throughout the site as we design the subpage. There are typically 2 rounds of design for the subpage design.