I’ve designed, and redesigned, many websites over the years. No matter how good an original design, there comes a time when a website needs a redesign. This can run from a simple refreshing of the look to a complete redesign. Either way, there is a process toward completing the redesign. Here is an overview of the redesign process you can expect.

Reasons for a Redesign

The Nielson/Norman Group lists some key reasons for a redesign. Among the most important are:

• The site looks outdated.
• New branding needs to be implemented.
• Technological advances have made the site antiquated.
• The site is not optimized for mobile devices.
• The information architecture of the site is not optimal, or links are broken.
• The user experience is confusing and there is no unified structure.
• Analytics show users have trouble completing tasks and are bouncing off the site.

The first two reasons may simply require a visual update. The others involve important user experience changes, from incremental changes to a complete redesign.

The Redesign Process

1. Understand the goals of the organization and why a redesign is desired now.

a. What is the organization’s mission?

b. What do they want to get out of the redesign?

c. What do they know about their current users that might help with the redesign?

2. Understand website’s current users and how a redesign will impact them.

a. Analytics will show how users currently use the website and where their pain points are.

b. Get feedback from current users of the website to learn what they like and dislike about the current website.

3. Competitive Analysis of similar websites.

a. What is different?

b. How do those differences work and/or don’t work?

4. Redesign

a. Sitemap of redesigned information architecture.

b. User Workflows.

c. Wireframes

d. Prototypes

5. User Testing

a. Test the redesign with users.

b. If usability issues, iterate redesign until user experience is working as it should.

6. Redesign Implemented

a. The redesign is either handed off to a web developer to create the functional website or is taken from prototype to functional website.