Before your next website build, give the planning as much attention as the tools.
In this video, I walk through BUILD, the process I use to take a website from the first business conversation through to launch and handover.
B: Business discovery
Understand the business, its customers and the requirements. What does the website need to help people do?
U: User experience and technical planning
Map those tasks for customers and staff, then plan the pages, admin features and services needed to support them.
I: Implementation
Build and connect the features you've agreed, checking them as you go.
L: Launch preparation
Test complete tasks and their failure cases. A working checkout also needs the right order record, stock update and customer email.
D: Delivery and ongoing ownership
Launch, check the live site and hand over access. Make sure the owner can operate it and knows who is responsible for ongoing upkeep.
I demonstrate the process with a real website in the full walkthrough.
Watch the full video:
Resources below the video
1. BUILD-guide.pdf — keep this beside you during the client call. It includes the discovery questions and the checkpoints for each BUILD stage.
2. BUILD-AI.md — give this file to your AI assistant with your call transcript or notes. It helps you turn the conversation into a draft brief and work through the next stages.
Start with the PDF for your conversation. Use the AI file afterwards, then check the brief with your client.