After we finalize key discovery, we transition into research and planning. Keeping deliverables high level at this point allows adaptability early, and to ensure we land on a direction visually that is agreed upon before designs ever get produced. We do this by first creating user persona profiles for the website, which are the most common audience splits. We then take a look at the competitor market and see how they address their needs, analyze what problems they want solved, and plan how we can create a site that helps them in a way they wouldn't expect. We then create sitemaps and flows that are catered to that user, and their expectations, as well as a mood board or visual direction that we believe best represents the brand and best speaks to the target persona. This enables us to create from a thesis to hold designs against, versus internal preferences getting in the way.
