Process · 10 years, same five phases

A calm, legible
process.

Most projects fail because the brief was wrong, not because the work was bad. We over-invest in the first two weeks so the next ten compound. Five phases, predictable cadence, no surprises at the end. Here's exactly how it runs, week by week.

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Step 01 · Week 1

Listen

A working session to understand your business, customers, constraints and ambitions. We leave with a shared vocabulary and a scoped plan.

What lands in this phase
  • Stakeholder + customer interviews (we run them; you sit in)
  • Competitive audit — what you're up against, what the SERPs look like, where the gaps are
  • A one-page written brief everyone agrees with before week 2
  • Week-by-week plan for the rest of the engagement

Why this matters: Most projects fail because the brief was wrong, not because the work was bad. We over-invest here so the rest of the engagement compounds.

Step 02 · Weeks 2–3

Research & strategy

Competitive audit, analytics review, content inventory, messaging workshop. The unglamorous work that quietly decides everything.

What lands in this phase
  • Content inventory + IA proposal — every URL, every section, every CTA
  • Voice and tone workshop with first-draft positioning
  • Keyword + intent map (if SEO is in scope)
  • Wireframes for the 6–10 page templates that actually matter

Why this matters: The site's job is to tell a clear story to a real person. The story has to be written before the typography decisions matter.

Step 03 · Weeks 3–6

Design

Two weekly shareouts. Fast feedback loops. We design in the browser early and often — so you see the real thing, not a rendering.

What lands in this phase
  • Mood + type + color system, decided in week 3
  • High-fidelity comps for hero / services / case / blog / contact
  • Design system in Figma + matching CSS variables for the build
  • Accessibility pass on the static comps before we write a line of production code

Why this matters: Two shareouts a week, designed in the browser by week 4. You see the real thing on your laptop, not a Figma frame that lies about how the type will actually feel.

Step 04 · Weeks 5–9

Build

Typed, tested, accessible. CMS wired up, content migrated, integrations set. We build for the team who will live with it after launch.

What lands in this phase
  • Typed, tested code on Next.js + Sanity, WordPress + WooCommerce, or Webflow — whichever fits
  • CMS modelled so editors update content without filing a developer ticket
  • Form + integration wiring (CRM, Klaviyo, GA4, Plausible, Stripe — whatever's in scope)
  • Core Web Vitals green on staging before launch
  • WCAG 2.2 AA pass with keyboard + screen-reader testing

Why this matters: We build for the next person — the office manager, the in-house designer, the freelancer who'll touch the site in three years. Code review is a feature, not an overhead.

Step 05 · Week 10+

Launch & measure

Soft launch, QA, 301 map, analytics, search console. Then thirty days of careful watching and polishing before we call it done.

What lands in this phase
  • Soft launch on a preview URL with a small cohort of test users
  • Full QA + cross-browser + mobile-device pass
  • 301 redirect map from the old site, manually reviewed
  • Analytics + Search Console + structured data verification
  • 30-day post-launch support window for the team

Why this matters: Launching is the easy part. The thirty days after launch — watching real user behaviour, fixing the things you couldn't see until traffic hit the site — are where projects either land or quietly limp.

(06) — Common questions

Things prospects
ask before the kickoff.

How long does a typical project take?+
Eight to twelve weeks from kickoff to launch for a full Studio engagement. Sprint engagements (one landing page, a rebrand refresh, an SEO audit) land in two weeks. Larger platforms with significant content migrations run twelve to sixteen.
What happens if the project goes over schedule?+
We share a week-by-week plan in week 1 and update it weekly. If something is at risk of slipping, you hear about it the moment we know — not at the end. We hold the timeline, not pad the bill.
How much of my time do you need each week?+
Roughly 2–4 hours during weeks 1–3 (workshops, content review, decisions), then 1–2 hours per week during design and build (shareouts, async feedback), then 3–5 hours during launch week. Less than most agencies expect, more than most freelancers.
What's a 'shareout'?+
Every Tuesday and Friday we ship a Loom video walking you through what we built that half-week. You watch on your schedule, leave timestamped comments, and we adjust. No standing meetings unless you want them.
Will I see the work in progress, or just at the end?+
Continuously. By week 3 there's something on a real URL in your browser. By week 5 it looks like a real site. Nothing about our process involves a big reveal at the end.
What if I want to change scope mid-project?+
Small in-scope changes happen all the time — they're built into the budget. Substantial scope changes (new pages, new integrations, additional language editions) get a written delta with new timeline and price. We don't quietly absorb scope creep.
Who's actually doing the work?+
The people you meet on the sales call. We're eight people total; you'll work with two or three of us directly. No account managers between you and the makers.
What does "done" look like?+
Site launched, redirects in place, analytics live, search console verified, documentation handed off, your team trained on the CMS, 30 days of post-launch support window open. After that you choose: Partner retainer, quarterly tune-ups, or you take it from here.

Ready to walk
through it?

Thirty-minute call, no slide deck, no salespeople. Tell us what you're building and we'll map the five phases against your specific project.

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