Phase one of two: Put the client’s current website on a diet and give it a facelift.

In other words, only keep the vital information and make it look pretty—aka, user accessible.

For the past month or so, we have been working with the MSU College Advising Corps to create a user-friendly website that effectively and efficiently showcases information about the program to prospective advisers, partners, and funders, with an emphasis on appealing to current MSU students. Thankfully, the client had existing content that was short, sweet, and purposeful. We had the resources, which meant we didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. Which, hallelujah, am I right?

With this project, we had to move swiftly. We were forced to stay focused on the purpose of the website (which was given to us at the start). It was refreshing. Knowing that there was a phase two, the pressure was off. We could simply … design. Every page didn’t have to be resolved at once. Just a few.

That luxury allowed us to think: What if we changed our mindset? What if we allowed ourselves, as designers, not to get caught up in the details; not to focus on the little design elements (which are often beautiful and fun to think about), but to focus on purpose? Think: What is the purpose of this project at this time? Usually, this is something the client provides to us. So focus on it.

It’s amazing how much of a mental game designing can be. We can get so entangled in the weeds, it can be debilitating. So what happens if we think about projects in phases, whether there are physical phases or not? Will it help us design more intuitively? To set mini goals instead of a couple of large ones? That change especially helped us when working with our developer, Jake, on this project. We were able to take steps and have the open conversation about design elements and their properties on the front end. While these conversations were inevitable, we came to them earlier on in the process and made room for both perspectives: the designer and the developer could see from each other’s point of view now rather than later.

Whether the project you are working on is built out in phases (like this one) or not, try approaching it that way. Does it help you stay focused on the purpose of the project? Does it lead to fun discoveries, like your new favorite typeface? It did for us. Ideas were floating about instead of buried at the bottom of the dirty laundry basket.

Baby steps are still steps. Don’t be afraid to break down the project into phases to help stir up the creative juices. Stay focused on the purpose of the project. And before you know it, phase one will be done. Then you shake it off and move on to phase two like a boss.