Most problems in a web project aren’t design problems or code problems. They’re process problems. Deadlines that stretch because content never arrives, redesigns halfway through development because nothing was approved in writing, websites that launch without anyone checking how they’ll be measured.
After years of freelancing, my process is the tool that has saved me from more problems than any other. It isn’t a methodology with a registered name: it’s five phases, each with concrete deliverables, an approval milestone and clear responsibilities on both sides. This article walks through all of it — what’s included and what I require — so you know exactly what happens between “hi, I need a website” and launch day.
Why the order matters more than the techniques
Before the phases, the idea that holds them together: each phase exists so the next one doesn’t get done twice.
Designing without strategy forces a redesign when the real goal shows up. Building without content forces a rebuild when the real copy arrives. Launching without QA turns your first visitors into your testing team. Everything rigid about my process is there to protect the budget from rework, which is where projects actually get expensive.
That way of thinking isn’t exclusive to this process; it’s the same one I lay out in Operational North: designing to decide, build and sustain.
Phase 1 — Strategy: what this website has to achieve
Typical duration: 1–2 weeks.
No project starts with screens. It starts with a working session where I answer three questions with you:
- What does the website have to achieve? One primary, measurable goal. “More qualified project inquiries” is a goal; “modernize our image” is a consequence.
- Who has to achieve it? The two or three visitor profiles that matter, and what each one needs in order to take the next step.
- What makes you different, and how can it be proven? Not what you say about yourself — what you can demonstrate.
Deliverables: a strategy document with the goal, audiences, value proposition, information architecture (which pages exist and why) and measurable success criteria.
What I need from you: access to the people who know the business, and honesty about what’s working and what isn’t. This phase falls apart when the person in the room answers with what they wish were true.
Approval milestone: the strategy document, in writing. Everything that follows is evaluated against it — not against taste.
Phase 2 — Content and UX: what each page says and how it flows
Typical duration: 2–3 weeks.
This is where my process differs most from the usual one: content comes before visual design. I don’t design with lorem ipsum, because a page designed on fake text is a promise the real copy never keeps.
In this phase I define the message structure of each template — what gets said, in what order, backed by what proof — and the page schematics (wireframes) that fix hierarchy, user flows and responsive behavior. If copy needs to be written or rewritten, this is the moment: either by me or with a specialized collaborator, depending on the project.
Deliverables: content map, wireframes for every template, and final or near-final copy.
What I need from you: the content that already exists (copy, photos, data, case studies) and reviews with business judgment: is this true? Is this the important part? Is this the strongest proof we have?
Approval milestone: approved wireframes and content. This is the most important approval of the whole project, because changing structure in a wireframe costs minutes and changing it in development costs days.
Phase 3 — Interface: how it looks and how it feels
Typical duration: 2–3 weeks.
With the structure fixed, the visual direction has room to play without breaking anything. I start with a design system — typography, color, spacing, components — rather than isolated screens, because the system is what guarantees the whole site looks like it came from one mind, including the page that gets added a year from now.
On top of that system I design the key templates with real content, on desktop and mobile, including the states almost nobody designs: forms with errors, empty listings, pages with sparse content.
Deliverables: design system, key templates designed in high fidelity, and a specification of the interactions and animations that actually earn their place.
What I need from you: concrete reactions during review rounds (I include two per phase). “I don’t like it” isn’t actionable; “this section doesn’t convey reliability because…” is.
Approval milestone: visual design approved on the key templates.
Phase 4 — Development: building what was approved
Typical duration: 3–5 weeks depending on scope.
I build with a modern stack — usually Astro, with Svelte where there’s real interactivity — prioritizing three things agreed on since phase 1: performance, accessibility and ease of editing for your team. I explain the reasoning in why your tech stack matters, but the short version is: your website’s speed and stability are decided here, not in the design phase.
From the second week of this phase you have access to a staging environment. There is no final “big reveal”: you watch the website grow, and adjustments are made against the real thing.
Deliverables: working website on staging, CMS configured with your content, and editing documentation.
What I need from you: the content loose ends that always remain (the missing photo, the legal text, verified contact details) and an honest review of the staging site.
Approval milestone: sign-off on the complete website in staging.
Phase 5 — QA and launch: shipping it right and making it measurable
Typical duration: 1 week.
The last week isn’t “uploading the website”. It’s a checklist that includes, among other things:
- testing on real devices and browsers, not just the simulator;
- performance review against metrics (Core Web Vitals), fixing whatever falls short;
- accessibility: keyboard navigation, contrast, alt text;
- metadata, structured data and — if there’s a migration — a redirect map, URL by URL;
- analytics configured and verified: if the phase 1 goal can’t be measured, the project isn’t finished;
- forms tested end to end, including where every email actually lands.
Deliverables: website in production, a launch report, and a 30-day warranty period covering any issue arising from development.
Milestone: launch, with a joint review two weeks later to look at the first data.
What happens after launch
A website that nobody touches after launch starts expiring the same day. The first usage data reveals the adjustments no design can anticipate: a CTA nobody sees, a page getting unexpected traffic, a form where people get stuck.
That’s why every one of my projects ends with a conversation about continuity — from minimal maintenance to monthly evolution driven by measured improvements. I described the logic behind those systems in the 5 systems that guarantee your website’s success; continuity is the fifth and the most underestimated.
What this process asks of you
A process only works if both sides hold up their end. Mine is described above. Yours, in summary:
- One point of contact with decision-making power. Projects where every approval goes through a committee double their timeline.
- Content on time. It is the number one cause of delays in web projects, by far.
- Feedback about goals, not taste. The phase 1 document exists precisely so that “I’m not convinced” can become “this doesn’t meet what we defined”.
In exchange, you know at every moment which phase the project is in, what has been approved, what’s pending and what happens if something slips. No surprises on the invoice or the calendar.
If you’re considering a project
This is the process I apply as a freelance web designer on every project, adjusting each phase’s depth to the scope: a landing page doesn’t need the same strategy phase as a digital product, but no phase disappears entirely. If you’re weighing working this way against hiring a larger structure, I compare both options honestly in freelancer or agency.
And if you have a project in mind and want to know how it would map onto these phases, tell me about it. That first conversation is, precisely, the beginning of phase 1: understanding what your website has to achieve before talking about anything else.
Have a project in mind?
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