We’ve changed our design process a lot over the years.
Back when it was just me, I’d start a project and jump straight into design. No true strategy phase — just a few early conversations, finding inspiration (remember awwwards?), and then dive into the design.
It was a chaotic way of doing things. There was constant back and forth, too much guesswork, and a whole lot of wheel spinning. Clients spent too much time trying to help me figure things out. They burned out. So did I. By the time we launched a site, everyone was just relieved it was over – forget anyone popping champagne.
If you’re one of those customers from long ago and find yourself nodding along here – my apologies.
Slowing it down
Over time, we realized that giving proper scope to research, strategy, and wireframing — and treating each as its own phase — made everything smoother.
Instead of struggling with why a homepage “just didn’t feel right,” we’d already worked through a wireframe that spelled out exactly what we were building. But that wireframe didn’t happen in isolation — it came after a thorough strategy phase and a full suite of research: demographics, content hierarchies, keywords, business goals, competitors, and more.
It was deliberate. It was time-consuming. But it brought clarity — for us and for our clients — before any design work began. And definitely before we touched a line of code.
For over a decade, that was our guiding principle: Don’t design until we’ve dotted every “i” and crossed every “t.”
We spent more time upfront, but built better, clearer, more effective websites. Clients were less overwhelmed, projects ran more smoothly, and the results lasted. Many of those sites are still going strong ten plus years later — thanks to clear hierarchies, timeless design, and thoughtful planning.
I’ve written a few posts on the benefits of redesigning websites and I can say that for many of our customers – they just don’t need to. Years later they still have well designed, solid websites.
Congrats. Happy for you. Nice.
So… if it’s such a great process, why did we change it?
Why would we change up such a good thing? Well it wasn’t an easy decision, and one that was debated deeply internally. It’s not easy to question a process that’s been effective for so long.
But the truth is, website design has changed in a few signification ways in the last few years that we couldn’t ignore.
Separate Phases are Time Consuming
Keeping research, strategy, wireframing, and design in separate phases was effective — but it came at a cost. Each stage added time, and just coordinating them often took a month or more. Full projects stretched into 3–4 months easily, and larger ones doubled that.
For a long time, I believed that was just what it took to do it right. And in many ways, it was. But let’s be honest: no one was ever excited about those timelines — including me.
Longer timelines meant more overlap, more juggling, more scattered communication… and more missed deadlines than I care to admit.
Separate Phases are Costly
In-depth research and strategy are valuable — but they aren’t cheap. The more we expanded that part of our process, the higher our project costs climbed.
I started to notice a pattern: even when clients appreciated the thoroughness, they were increasingly hesitant about the price. The kind of small businesses we love working with just weren’t comfortable investing that much upfront anymore.
Translation Gaps Between Phases
Spigot’s had an amazing team over the years — with specialists handling research, strategy, design, and development. It worked well in theory.
But in practice, each handoff introduced friction. Key insights got diluted, misunderstood, or lost entirely between phases. These gaps weren’t just frustrating — they were expensive. And they added internal costs we couldn’t pass on to clients.
Is It Even Necessary Anymore?
At some point, I started wondering: Do our clients even want this deep-dive process anymore?
Not every project needs extensive research, detailed strategy reports, and custom wireframes. And more importantly — not every client values those things the way they used to.
Over time, we noticed that expectations were changing. Website builders got better. Templates looked more polished. The gap between “custom” and “good enough” got smaller — or at least, harder to explain to someone just trying to launch or relaunch a site.
That doesn’t mean strategy isn’t important. It absolutely is. But we realized we needed to embed it differently — not stretch it out over weeks and reports, but bake it into a more agile, efficient process.
Clients don’t want to slog through six weeks of planning. They want to move — and they want a partner who can guide them as we go.
Our New, Streamlined Process (Explained}
So here’s the idea:
What if we could build websites more easily, more quickly, and at a lower cost — without sacrificing what actually makes them work?
Instead of splitting the project into separate research, strategy, wireframing, and design phases, we now combine them into a single, focused creation phase — guided by everything we’ve learned over the years.
It starts with a comprehensive kickoff meeting. We talk through your business goals, customer behavior, messaging challenges, and anything else that will shape the site. From there, we make a few solid, educated bets — built on years of patterns, proven decisions, and what we know works.
Within a week or two, we come back with a fully fleshed-out design — built directly in the browser, not trapped in static mockups. It’s interactive, real, and ready for refinement.
You’ll still have input. You’ll still get guidance. But we won’t drag you through a dozen deliverables or ask you to approve five rounds of wireframes. We’ll make smart decisions together, quickly — and get your site live faster, with less stress and less back-and-forth.
Wrapping it Up
The truth is, web design has changed yet again, and so have the needs of the businesses and organizations we serve. They want a partner who asks the right questions, gets it, and delivers – quickly, clearly, and confidently. That’s exactly what our new process is designed to do.
We’re not cutting corners, we’re cutting out the cruft.
If you’ve been putting off a web project because it’s overwhelming or expensive, this might be a good time to take a fresh look. Let’s talk.
PS – stay tuned for a post on how we’ve changed our development process too. Again. Spoiler: It’s been streamlined too!