Episode insight · June 2019 conversation
Begin with the end in mind for websites
A site is not a stack of pages. It is a system for helping a visitor take a meaningful next step.
By Unicorn Road Editorial · Bytes Over Bagels
Andy Crestodina describes a simple discipline for website work: start with the end in mind. It is a useful correction to projects that begin with a sitemap, a visual direction, or a pile of requested features before anyone has defined what success looks like.
Give the site a job
A website may need to create qualified conversations, educate a buyer, support a sale, recruit talent, or make a complex offering understandable. The content and interface should follow from that objective—not the other way around.
Work backward from the desired action
Once the outcome is clear, each page can earn its place. What question does it answer? What evidence does it provide? What is the sensible next step for a visitor who is now better informed?
This is an interpretation of Crestodina’s 2013 Bytes Over Bagels conversation and not a description of Orbit Media’s current services.