Annotated observations.
Numbered markers on your actual pages, each tied to a complete written explanation. Observation, opinion and proposal are labelled separately, the same way the studies do it.
See the format in a study ↗Understand it first.
Then change it.
A review is a close reading of one website or brand, organised around a decision you need to make. You get the observations, the reasoning and a short list of priorities. You keep the decision.
Request a review ↗How it runs ↗01
Does my homepage explain the business?
WEBSITES02
Is the brand saying the right thing?
BRANDS03
Where does the customer journey go quiet?
JOURNEYSIf your question is close to one of these, a review fits. If you are not sure what the question is yet, send what you have. Finding the question is part of the first conversation.
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
A priority list.
Three to five recommendations in order, each tied to your question, with the basis stated and the uncertainty named. No scores and no rankings against other sites.
See a sample list ↗A closing conversation.
We walk through the reasoning together, agree what needs evidence before it changes, and decide who owns each next step. You leave with notes you can hand to your own team.
first the question.
then the scope.
No automatic booking.
No implied rebuild.
- 01Share the decision.
Use the connect form. Tell me about the website or brand, who it is for, and what you need to decide. A link and a few sentences are enough.
- 02Agree the scope.
I reply with the pages or touchpoints I would include, what is excluded, the deliverables, the price and the date. Nothing starts until you confirm it in writing.
- 03The review.
Close reading, annotation and the priority list. If I need something from you, such as a login to a staging site or the brief behind a page, I ask before I assume.
- 04Walk through the reasons.
A conversation over the annotated pages. You ask, I explain, we mark what is settled and what still needs evidence.
A good fit when
- You have a live site or brand and a decision in front of you.
- You want the reasoning, not only a verdict, so your team can act on it.
- You are willing to agree the pages and the question before work begins.
- You can accept that a visual reading has limits and may point to evidence you still need.
Not the right fit when
- You need a new identity, a new design or a build. That is production, which Designer First scopes separately.
- You need analytics, interviews or usability testing. Those are not included unless we agree them.
- You want a score, a ranking or a guarantee of results.
- The site is not yet built. A review needs something to read.
COST AND TIMINGAgreed after
Agreed after
reviewing your brief.
Every review is scoped to its question: the pages or touchpoints included, the depth of the question and the closing conversation. The written scope states the price, the date and the deliverables before anything starts. Sending an inquiry never books or purchases anything.
Pricing and timing are agreed after reviewing your brief.
what a review
can make clear.
A sample priority list,
drawn from the fictional
Fieldwork demonstration.
ILLUSTRATIVE REVIEW / NOT CLIENT WORK
The question: can a visitor understand the service and choose a useful next step?
Scope for this example: homepage introduction and the proposed repair information destination. No analytics, interviews or usability testing.
01
Clarify the offer first.
Keep the point of view headline. Name furniture repair in the supporting line. Check whether unfamiliar readers can describe the service before explaining it to them.
Basis: the earlier direction leaves the service implicit.02
Make the next page useful.
Show repair categories, exclusions and what an owner should supply. “See what we can repair” needs a destination that answers that question.
Basis: the proposed action makes a specific promise.03
Replace illustration with evidence.
For a real studio, request authorised photographs and an accurate description of the work. An abstract chair can explain the subject; it cannot demonstrate repair quality.
Basis: the demonstration contains no real repair evidence.Before deciding: confirm repair capacity, audience questions and available proof. This order is editorial judgment, not a measured ranking or a guaranteed result.
before we begin.
Is a review the same as a redesign?
No. A review explains observations and priorities. Original design and production belong to a separately scoped Designer First project, and you are free to take the priorities elsewhere.
What do you need from me to start?
A link, a sentence about who the site is for, and the decision you are trying to make. If there is a brief, a brand document or a past review, share it. I do not need access to analytics or customer data for a visual review.
Can I use the recommendations with my own team?
Yes. The deliverables are written so a designer or developer who was not in the conversation can act on them. Nothing in the review depends on buying production work.
Will it include analytics or customer testing?
Only if we agree it in the scope. A visual review does not imply that interviews, testing or private analytics were used, and the priority list says so where it matters.
What will it cost, and how long will it take?
Pricing and timing are agreed after reviewing your brief, and both are written into the scope before anything starts.
What happens after the closing conversation?
You own the next step. Some owners apply the list with their existing team. Some ask for a follow up reading after changes ship. If the work points to production, Designer First scopes that as its own project.
Thinking here.
Making with Designer First.
If the review points toward a new visual identity, original design or a website build, Designer First handles that production as a separately scoped project. The review remains useful on its own.
WHAT NEEDS
A CLOSER LOOK?
Share the decision in a few sentences. The first reply is a scope, not an invoice.
Request a review ↗