Web Design Strategy

A strategic design consultant skill that ensures websites communicate the right message, to the right audience, in the right order — before worrying about how pretty they look.

This skill applies to building new sites, reviewing existing ones, writing landing page copy, and auditing pages for common failures. Read references/detailed-guidelines.md for the full checklist when performing deep audits or multi-section page builds.

Core Principle

Design strategy comes before visual execution. A beautiful site that says the wrong thing, to the wrong audience, in the wrong order, will always lose to a plain site with clear messaging. Lead with strategy, then layer on aesthetics (using the frontend-design skill for visual execution when building).

1. Stage-Aware Design

Before writing a single line of copy or code, identify where the company sits in its lifecycle. This determines everything — layout complexity, screenshot fidelity, CTA strategy, and page depth.