How to Make Web Design Projects Faster and Easier
For years, I thought the only way to become a better web designer was to get better at design.
I spent hours working through tutorials, chasing the latest trends, switching between tools and studying other people's websites late at night. I was convinced that if I could learn enough and improve my skills, eventually web design projects would become easier.
But they didn't.
I was getting better at design, yet projects were still taking weeks or even months. There were still endless rounds of revisions, constant back and forth with clients and that sinking feeling when a client said they simply didn't like the design.
Eventually, I realised I had been working on the wrong problem.
The biggest improvement to my web design process had very little to do with becoming a better designer. It came from changing the way I worked with clients.
You don't design the website – you draw the design out of the client
This might sound backwards at first, but the client often already has most of the website in their head.
They know what they need the website to do. They have an idea of the style they like, websites they admire, the kind of branding they want and, often, a good idea of what content they want to include.
The problem is that they can't necessarily hand you all of that information in one go.
They may not know what information you need from them, or they might assume you'll ask for it when it's relevant. That's where a good web design process comes in.
Rather than starting with a blank canvas and expecting yourself to come up with the perfect design, your job is to uncover what the client already has in mind and turn it into a working website.
That means asking better questions, collecting the right information and getting agreement before you start building.
Once you start thinking about web design this way, your role changes. You're not simply creating something and hoping the client likes it. You're bringing their vision to life while using your own expertise to guide the decisions.
You'll still need to read between the lines when it comes to feedback, and there will be times when you need to push back if a client's request isn't good practice. But you're no longer trying to guess what they want from the outset.
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The project that taught me the hard way
I learnt this lesson properly in 2021, when I took on a 25-page website project for a medical company.
Looking back, I did almost everything I now advise designers not to do.
I started building the entire website using the content from the client's existing website. It seemed logical at the time, but there was one problem: the client actually wanted to use copy from a brand-new content document.
I also hadn't asked for their assets upfront, so I didn't have all of the imagery and other materials I needed.
The client hadn't sent them because I hadn't asked for them.
The result? I built the entire website on the wrong foundation.
I then had to go back and rework all 25 pages, adding around two months to the project.
Because it was a fixed-fee project, I didn't lose money directly, but I did get paid two months later than I should have. The client was also left waiting for their website launch.
And the frustrating part was that none of this was unavoidable.
I hadn't been unlucky. I had simply started building before I had properly understood what the client actually needed.
Get your website content and assets before you start designing
That experience completely changed my web design workflow.
The first major change was simple: I started collecting everything upfront.
Before I design anything, I want the copy, imagery, video, branding and any other assets that are going to appear on the website.
If it's going to live on the site, I want it on my desk before I open the design tool.
This also means recognising when a client isn't ready to provide everything themselves.
If they don't have the content or assets prepared, you can use an onboarding process to help draw that information out of them. You can also offer content creation and other services if they want someone else to handle it.
The important thing is that you don't start designing and then discover halfway through the project that key information is missing.
A strong client onboarding process can prevent a huge amount of unnecessary work later.
Don't build the entire website at once
The second major change I made was to stop building the whole website before getting client feedback.
Instead, I build the homepage first.
The homepage becomes the opportunity for the client and designer to work through the design together. We can refine the layout, spacing, visual style, tone and overall direction until we're both happy with it.
Once the homepage has been approved, it effectively becomes the style guide for the rest of the website.
The remaining pages can then inherit the decisions that have already been made.
Rather than wondering whether the client will like the finished website three months down the line, you've already established the visual direction together.
This makes the rest of the project much less of a guessing game.
Why this can dramatically reduce website revisions
The difference this made to my projects was significant.
Previously, a website project could take up to three months and involve around 10 rounds of revisions.
Every round created another opportunity for the design to change direction. Another version meant another conversation, another set of changes and another chance for the project to drift away from the original idea.
Now, a similar project can take around three to four weeks, with a maximum of three rounds of revisions. Most of the time, it's closer to one or two.
The interesting thing is that my design skills didn't suddenly become dramatically better.
The biggest change was the process.
A better process meant I wasn't spending weeks designing something that hadn't been properly agreed with the client in the first place.
How to improve your web design client onboarding
If you want to make your own web design projects smoother, your onboarding form is a good place to start.
A lot of designers ask basic questions about the business, its audience and its goals. Those questions are useful, but there are two questions that can give you particularly valuable information about the website itself.
1. Ask for three websites they like – and why
Don't just ask your client to send you three websites they like.
Ask them to explain why they like them.
The difference is important.
One client might like a website because it's clean and minimal. Another might like the way it uses photography. Someone else might be drawn to the typography, animations, colours or the way the information is organised.
Knowing the reason behind their choices gives you a much better understanding of their taste.
It also means you're less likely to spend time developing a design direction that the client was never going to approve.
2. Ask what they want on the homepage
Ask your client which sections or features they'd like to see on their homepage.
Then go further and ask what they'll need across the wider website.
This gives you an understanding of their priorities before you've started designing.
It also helps the client think through what they actually need from their website, rather than simply reacting to whatever you put in front of them.
The more clearly you understand those priorities at the beginning, the easier it becomes to make good design decisions later.
A better web design process starts before the design
It's easy to assume that the fastest way to finish a website is to become faster at designing.
In reality, designing everything upfront can sometimes have the opposite effect.
If you haven't collected the right content, assets and information from the client, you're effectively designing in the dark. You might create something technically good, but if it doesn't reflect what the client actually wants, you'll end up spending more time changing it.
A good web design process removes as much of that uncertainty as possible before you start.
Collect the assets. Ask better questions. Understand the client's preferences. Find out what they need from the website and establish the homepage direction together.
Then build the rest of the website from an agreed foundation.
The biggest lesson I've learnt is that you don't necessarily create websites faster by designing faster.
You create them faster by finding the right answer with your client before you start building.
And sometimes, becoming a better web designer isn't about learning another tool or another technique.
It's about learning how to ask the right questions.
