What if you don’t need a new website?

The request

“We need a new website.”

It sounds like a clear brief. There’s something to design, something to build, and a moment when everyone can say it’s finished.

But before I open a design file, I want to ask something less comfortable.

What isn’t working right now?

Are people not finding the business? Are they visiting but not understanding the offer? Or are they ready to buy, only to get lost somewhere between interest and action?

Those are different problems. They don’t automatically need the same solution.

What’s underneath

The screen is the part we can see. That makes it an easy place to start. We can point at the layout, compare it with another website, and imagine something cleaner.

What’s harder to see is everything underneath: the offer, the customer’s expectations, the unanswered question before a purchase, the process after someone clicks.

A redesign might help. But if the offer is unclear, a more polished page may just present the same uncertainty in a better typeface.

What would still be broken if the website looked perfect?

A better question

Instead of “What should the new website look like?”, try “What should become easier for the customer?”

Maybe they need to understand the difference between two services. Maybe they need to trust the business before booking. Maybe the team needs a way to follow up without losing conversations.

Now there’s a direction. Clarify the offer. Remove a confusing step. Connect the inquiry to the right person. Build the website if that’s what the problem needs.

This isn’t an argument against websites. I build them. It’s an argument for knowing why we’re building one.

The problem decides the solution.