02Planning
What to prepare before a website redesign
The decisions, content, assets, and information that make a website redesign move faster and cost less than it otherwise would.
Resources
Useful thinking for people building better websites.
Practical notes on website planning, content, design, technology, and the decisions that help a website work better for the people who visit it.
Featured note
How to tell if your website has a clarity problem
Most websites do not fail because they are ugly. They fail because a visitor cannot explain what the business does.
Clarity is not a matter of taste. When visitors cannot explain what you do in the first few seconds, the design is getting between the business and the person trying to understand it.
- Positioning: what the offer actually is, stated plainly.
- Navigation: whether the structure matches how visitors think.
- Page structure: whether each page has one clear job.
- Content: whether the writing answers real questions.
- Calls to action: whether the next step is obvious.
Clarity checksFive seconds
- 1Value statement legibility
- 2Navigation hierarchy
- 3Cognitive load
- 4Primary action visibility
Field manuals
Studio field manuals
Practical notes and frameworks.
Read the guide · 4 min
03Architecture
What a small business actually needs from a website
The short list of pages, functions, and decisions a small business website needs to do its job, and the parts that are usually decoration.
04Discovery
Website planning for people who do not know where to start
A simple sequence that turns a rough idea into a page structure and a project direction, for owners who have no idea where to begin.
05Technology
WordPress or a lightweight website?
The practical questions that decide whether a small business needs a content-managed WordPress site or a lighter, static build.
06Design craft
Why visual design should have a reason behind it
How structure, content, layout, spacing, and interaction each need a stated purpose, and what happens to a website when they do not.
Editorial standard
Written from practical delivery
These notes reflect problems solved on real projects, not theoretical lectures. Where a claim cannot be shown, it is left out.
Orivian Studio
Practical assets
Studio planning frameworks
Working documents used to organize a website build from the initial brief through to deployment.
Website content & page inventory
A structure for mapping every page, navigation node, content owner, and technical requirement before the build begins.
Shared as part of a project
Client scoping questions
The essential questions to answer before redesigning, so assumptions about scope, timeline, and audience intent are settled early.
Shared as part of a project
Clarity audit checklist
A comprehension test for first-time visitors: whether someone understands what you offer without having to guess.
Shared as part of a project
Need clarity on your upcoming website?
Whether you are scoping a complete redesign or need a clarity review of what you have, start with a short description of the business and what needs to improve.