How to Set Up

Web Design
Workflows
and Run Better Web Design Projects
Contents

03 Introduction
04 Understanding Web Design Workflow
05 The Fundamental Phases of a Web Design Workflow
06 Phase 1: Define Your Site Goals
07 Phase 2: Turn the Ideas in Your Head into a Wire frame
08 Phase 3: Turn Your Blank Canvas into a Stunning Website
09 Phase 4: Squeeze As Much Feedback From the Team
10 Phase 5: Test Your Website and Make Sure It Works as Expected
11 Phase 6: Launch the Website and Monitor the Performance
12 Tips for Optimizing Your Web Design Workflow
13 Optimize Your Web Design Workflow with BugHerd

How to Set Up Web Design Workflows and Run Better Web Design Projects 02
Introduction
Web design is more than layouts and combining design
elements that make web pages "pop". Behind any visually
appealing and high-converting site is an optimized set of
steps — a workflow.

Website design can be a complex process requiring meticulous planning. A web

design workflow is a roadmap that takes all the team members' (and clients')
creative design ideas into production and launch.

It’s a step-by-step guide to transforming a blank canvas into a stunning website

— the plan that takes all those creative ideas in your head and brings them to life
on the screen.

Here's the thing: Web design workflow looks different for various teams.

And even web designers may have their own interpretation of a design workflow.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll walk you through what an optimal web design
workflow looks like based on website design best practices.

Find out the crucial steps in a well-oiled workflow and discover how tools like
BugHerd can make it more efficient.

How to Set Up Web Design Workflows and Run Better Web Design Projects 03
Understanding
Web Design Workflow

A web design workflow is a detailed plan that gets designers, alongside web
development team members (including the client), on the same page with what needs
to be done. It guides the team through the entire website design process — from start
to finish.

What a web design workflow provides is structure. It plans the different stages of the
web design process, including action points, task owners, outputs, and deadlines.

An optimized web design workflow goes a long way in terms of efficiency, consistency,
quality, and time management.

How to Set Up Web Design Workflows and Run Better Web Design Projects 04
Understanding
Web Design Workflow

Here's how:

It reduces the By planning the details in each stage and

1
following a checklist, designers, developers,
back-and-forth
agencies, and clients can reduce backtracking,
errors, and lapses in judgment. They all follow
a system and structure, so there are fewer
chances of a misstep.

It reduces errors The team can enjoy a seamless website design

2
feedback loop because roles and responsibilities
and strengthens
are clearly defined. Each stage clearly defines
collaboration tasks and accountabilities within a set timeline.
If this sounds like a stress-free way to work,
you're not wrong.

Everyone gets to Because of set project milestones and outputs,

3
and by repeatedly following a process, the team
work quicker and
creates a "muscle memory" of what needs to be
within timelines done at each stage.

How to Set Up Web Design Workflows and Run Better Web Design Projects 05
The Fundamental Phases of
a Web Design Workflow

Not all web design workflows are created equal. While certain phases are fundamental
to any workflow, here's how you can optimize yours so you can launch a high-
converting website within budget and set timeframes.

1 Phase 1: Define Your Site Goals

2 Phase 2: Turn the Ideas in Your Head into a Wireframe
3 Phase 3: Turn Your Blank Canvas into a Stunning Website
4 Phase 4: Squeeze As Much Feedback From the Team
5 Phase 5: Test Your Website and Make Sure It Works as Expected
6 Phase 6: Launch the Website and Monitor the Performance

How to Set Up Web Design Workflows and Run Better Web Design Projects 06
Phase 1:
Define Your Site Goals
This phase involves discovery. If you're an agency, you'll ask the client to fill out
a website design brief and sit down with them to define the following:

✅ Key objectives and goals for the website

What's the website for? What's the purpose it's meant to serve? What are the
goals, and how do they plan to measure these goals? How will the website help
the company achieve its business objectives?

✅ Target audience
Who is the website for? Is the buyer persona clearly defined? What are their
demographics, pain points, and aspirations? What's their online behavior, and
which channels do they often use?

✅ Competitors
What are the competitors' value propositions? How do their websites look?
Where can your website do better?

✅ Project scope and fees

Does the project include web design and development? Will this upgrade an existing
site, or will you start from scratch? What are the website development costs?

✅ Calls to action
What are the desired calls to action? What does conversion look like? Will the CTA
buttons encourage newsletter subscriptions, add to cart, or lead magnet downloads?

Aside from brief-taking, this stage involves heavy research on users and the industry.

Designers will dive deep and expand the customer persona, understanding their online
preferences, behaviors, product reviews, what they say on social media, etc. You’ll require
market research that expands the client’s brief, including a study of the latest industry
trends and more competitor audits

How to Set Up Web Design Workflows and Run Better Web Design Projects 07
Phase 2: Turn the Ideas in
Your Head into a Wireframe
Designers create the wireframe that serves as the website's blueprint. It provides a
visual skeleton of each web page, reflecting the layout of various elements like
images, text, videos, headings, and CTA buttons.

Early in the process, a wireframe describes the website's appearance. It gets everyone
involved on the same page regarding its design and functionality.

An effective wireframe reflects vital UI and UX principles, such as information

architecture (how you organize content) and visual hierarchy (guiding users' attention
to the essential elements).

By creating a wireframe, your team can ensure that your website serves its purpose in
a clean, visually appealing, and user-friendly way.

Here are the fundamental steps in creating a wireframe:

✅ Ideation
Conduct brainstorming and decide which website elements need to be included.
Will it involve multiple pages or just one comprehensive landing page? Will it have
a minimalist style or lots of interactive elements?

✅ Sketching
Create the layout, reflecting the brand personality, design style, features, and content.

✅ Finalize using tools

Add more details like buttons, images, videos, navigation, etc. Use tools like Figma
or Balsamiq to replicate your team's vision into a digital version. Some tools offer
real-time and on-page collaboration that streamlines website design feedback.

How to Set Up Web Design Workflows and Run Better Web Design Projects 08
Phase 3: Turn Your Blank
Canvas into a Stunning Website
This is where the rubber hits the road. Front- and back-end developers work
simultaneously to turn the wireframe into a fully functioning website.

Front-end developers will dive into the code — HTML, CSS, or JavaScript — to build the
site's skeleton, style, and interactivity. Back-end developers will focus on the servers,
setting up databases, and writing APIs using Python, Ruby, PHP, or Java. It’s also at this
phase when designers provide feedback to the devs. Is the website aligned nicely with
your design? Or are they a few pixels out?

Content such as images, videos, and copy will then be added to the website's "body".
When developing this content, consider Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Here are the fundamental steps in creating a wireframe:

✅ Images and videos should be optimized for web and mobile to ensure fast loading
times, which can affect the site's technical SEO and searchability on search engines.

✅ Copy should be relevant to the target audience and address their questions, pain points,
worries, and frustrations. In your sales pages, focus on more than just the features.
Highlight the benefits and answer your web visitors' question: What's in it for me?

✅ Use keywords that will help the brand own the space it's in. Does the website talk
about marketing consultancy? Then use keywords, meta descriptions, image alt,
and internal and external links around marketing and the website owner's expertise.

✅ Content marketing shouldn't be an afterthought. As it helps drive traffic to the website,

you should start building this up as early as the web development phase. Plan out blog
topics, onboarding materials, and how-to guides to kick-start the site's SEO long game.

How to Set Up Web Design Workflows and Run Better Web Design Projects 09
Phase 4: Squeeze As Much
Feedback From the Team

Get internal feedback from website development team members, the client, and even
those not involved in the project. Ask everyone in website development — including
your client.

Get as much as you can about the things you want feedback on. Give guidelines for
those providing it. Focus on a certain area like “What do you think about the gradient for
this page?” or “Do you think the images tell the brand story?” We’ve made a guide on
getting client feedback here.

Especially when you've seen the same pages a hundred times, it's key to get people's
fresh eyes to identify potential issues and blind spots. Most importantly, involve the key
decision-makers and get their approval.

Use tools like BugHerd to streamline the feedback loop. BugHerd provides on-page and
real-time visual feedback, giving technical and not-so-tech-savvy people context on their
desired changes. Website feedback and annotation tools eliminate the back-and-forths.

But remember, knowing which feedback to take on board is a delicate balancing act.
While opinions matter (and some voices are louder than others), staying true to the
design vision and what's agreed upon during the wireframing and prototyping stage
is also key.

The farther the adjustments get from the prototype, the more likely you'll open the
project to a can of worms — and you might end up doing more revisions than necessary.

How to Set Up Web Design Workflows and Run Better Web Design Projects 10
Phase 5: Test Your Website and
Make Sure It Works as Expected
Before going live, you must ensure the website functions well and provides a smooth
user experience. To find out, you need to test for technical and usability issues.

Here are the fundamental steps in creating a wireframe:

✅ Technical testing:
Check for coding errors, broken links, load times.
✅ Usability testing:
Focus on ease of use, navigation, mobile responsiveness, and overall user interaction.
✅ A/B testing:
Compare two versions of the same webpage. If your team needs to decide on design
elements like color schemes, CTA buttons, headlines, placement of text, or buttons,
this kind of testing gives you data on which performs better.
✅ Funnel testing:
Understand the user's journey from landing on your website to completing the
desired CTA. Are there any obstacles or "leaks" that could increase bounce rates?
✅ UX testing:
Find out what the overall user experience is like and focus on accessibility, efficiency,
and whether their navigation is how you planned it to be.

Testing is only half the equation. Once you have the data and results from these tests,
apply the changes and iterate to improve the website's overall performance. The key
to iteration is it should be geared towards continuous improvement and thus shouldn't
be a one-off task.

How to Set Up Web Design Workflows and Run Better Web Design Projects 11
Phase 6: Launch the Website and
Monitor the Performance

Now that your website has been tested, it's time to launch it!
But before deploying the site, define goals and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
like increased website traffic and conversion rates, reduced bounce rates, longer
page times, etc.

To measure these KPIs, ensure you've set up tools to monitor site performance, like
Google Analytics (GA4) and Google Search Console. To monitor users' behavior on-
site, consider installing tools like Hotjar that provide heatmaps and click maps.

And if you need to integrate your website activity into your business workflows,
connect it to a CRM like Salesforce or HubSpot.

Remember that maintaining a high-functioning website doesn't end with the launch.
Keep optimizing your site's performance by:

✅ Ensuring the designs, images, videos, and layout remain aligned to the brand
✅ Improving website speed
✅ Fixing broken links
✅ Implementing effective CTAs
✅ Going full-steam on your SEO (both technical and content)
✅ Regularly updating your site's software
✅ Monitoring for potential security issues

How to Set Up Web Design Workflows and Run Better Web Design Projects 12
Tips for Optimizing Your
Web Design Workflow
As mentioned earlier in the piece, not all web design workflows are
created equal. Some are more efficient than others.

So how can you optimize and streamline your workflow to achieve

the best outcomes? Here are some actionable tips:

Ensure clear Establish open and regular communication across

1
the web development team and between your
communication
agency and client. One way you can do this is to
create a wireframe or prototype from a tool like
Figma so everyone involved will see the visual
concept. Use website design feedback tools like
BugHerd for timely and contextual feedback.

Integrate Part of ensuring open communication is to

2
continuously provide feedback, test, and iterate
feedback, testing,
throughout the workflow. Don't leave feedback
and iteration and testing until the end of the project.
throughout the Embed them into the process to catch issues early
process and get data-based insights on design and usability.
Keep iterating for continuous improvement.

Don't shy away They facilitate efficient collaboration, task

3
management, and progress monitoring.
from project
Client collaboration tools like Asana and Trello
management tools provide a central hub for team members to view
the lineup of tasks, deadlines, and progress.
They streamline project management and ensure
that every task runs smoothly.

How to Set Up Web Design Workflows and Run Better Web Design Projects 13
Optimize Your Web Design
Workflow with BugHerd
An efficient design workflow ensures that everyone is on the same
page, following the same process. Without it, the team will likely
miss deadlines, overlook crucial details, go over the budget, and
encounter miscommunication.

With an optimized workflow for web design, you’re more likely to

produce consistent and high-quality designs, eventually launching
a fully-functional website on time and within budget.

We hope this article has given you ideas on optimizing your web
design workflow and how using tools like BugHerd can make your
design process more efficient.

If you're about to start a web design project or are in the middle of

one, try BugHerd and see how it can make your team's workflow a
well-oiled machine.

Try BugHerd today, Start a free 14-day trial.

How to Set Up Web Design Workflows and Run Better Web Design Projects 14
BugHerd.com →