Learn how Compass Production runs design discovery workshops before your website build, what to prepare, and how decisions from the session shape your final site.
Overview: What a Design Discovery Workshop Is
Before we design or build any pages, Compass Production runs a structured Design Discovery Workshop with you. This is a focused session (usually 60–90 minutes) where we clarify your visual direction, content priorities, and user journeys so the design phase moves quickly and with fewer revisions.
Goals of the Workshop
The workshop is not about picking random colors or copying other sites. It is about aligning your team and ours around clear, practical goals.
- Define your primary website objectives (leads, sales, bookings, education, etc.).
- Clarify your priority audiences and what they need from the site.
- Translate your brand into web-ready design guidelines.
- Agree on content hierarchy: what must be prominent, what can be secondary.
- Outline success metrics so we can measure whether the site is working.
Who Should Attend from Your Team
To keep decisions clear and avoid conflicting feedback later, we recommend a small but empowered group.
- Primary decision maker: The person who can approve design direction.
- Marketing or communications lead: Knows messaging, campaigns, and audience.
- Operations or service lead (optional): Understands how leads and customers are handled.
If more people need to give input, we suggest collecting their notes beforehand so the workshop remains focused.
What to Prepare Before the Session
Preparing a few items in advance will make the workshop faster and more productive.
- 3–5 websites you like (and why you like them).
- Any existing brand guidelines (logo files, colors, fonts, imagery rules).
- Key offers or services you want the site to highlight first.
- Common questions your customers ask before they buy or contact you.
- Any non-negotiables (legal content, disclaimers, required badges, etc.).
How the Workshop Is Structured
While each project is unique, most Design Discovery Workshops follow this structure.
1. Business and Audience Clarity (15–20 minutes)
We start with your business model and audience so design decisions are grounded in reality.
- What you sell and how you deliver it.
- Primary and secondary audiences.
- Top 2–3 actions you want visitors to take on the site.
2. Brand and Visual Direction (20–30 minutes)
Next, we translate your brand into a visual language that works on the web.
- Review of your logo, colors, and typography.
- Discussion of imagery style (photos vs. illustrations, people vs. product, etc.).
- Look-and-feel adjectives (e.g., “warm”, “professional”, “minimal”, “bold”).
- Examples of sites you like and what we should borrow or avoid.
3. Content Hierarchy and Key Pages (20–30 minutes)
We then map what content matters most and how it should be organized.
- Homepage priorities (hero message, calls to action, proof, navigation).
- Core pages (Services, About, Contact, Blog, etc.).
- Any special pages (landing pages, resources, donations, events, etc.).
- What must be above the fold vs. lower on the page.
4. User Journeys and Conversion Paths (10–15 minutes)
Finally, we walk through how a typical visitor should move through the site.
- Where visitors usually start (homepage, blog, search, ads).
- What they need to see before they trust you.
- How they should contact you or purchase.
- What follow-up or nurturing steps happen after conversion.
What Compass Production Delivers After the Workshop
Within a few business days after the workshop, we send you a concise set of deliverables that guide the design and build.
1. Design Direction Summary
This is a short document (or slide deck) that captures the visual decisions we made together.
- Agreed look-and-feel keywords.
- Preliminary color and typography direction.
- Imagery style notes and do/don’t examples.
2. Page-Level Priorities
We outline the most important content and actions for each key page.
- Homepage: primary call to action, core proof elements, navigation focus.
- Services or Products: how offerings are grouped and presented.
- About: what story and proof points matter most.
- Contact: what fields and contact methods you need.
3. Wireframe or Layout Plan (Depending on Your Package)
For many projects, we also prepare low-fidelity wireframes or a layout plan before full design.
- Section-by-section outline for the homepage.
- Rough layout notes for other key pages.
- Indication of where images, headlines, and calls to action will go.
How the Workshop Affects Revisions Later
A clear discovery workshop significantly reduces back-and-forth during design and development.
- Fewer surprise design directions because expectations are documented.
- Faster approvals because decisions reference the workshop summary.
- More consistent feedback from your team because everyone started aligned.
When revision requests come in, we compare them to the workshop outcomes. If a new direction appears that conflicts with earlier decisions, we will flag it and discuss scope or timeline impacts with you.
How This Connects to WordPress and Elementor
Although the workshop is platform-agnostic, its outcomes directly shape how we build your WordPress site, often using Elementor for layout.
- Color and typography decisions become your Global Styles in WordPress/Elementor.
- Content hierarchy becomes your page templates and reusable sections.
- Conversion paths determine where we place forms, buttons, and calls to action.
What You Should See in Your Site Build
As we move into design and development, you should recognize workshop decisions in the actual site:
- Headlines and calls to action that match your agreed priorities.
- Imagery that follows the style we defined together.
- Navigation labels and page structure that reflect your audience’s needs.
How to Get the Most Value from Your Workshop
To make the session as effective as possible, keep these best practices in mind:
- Come with a clear decision maker who can say “yes” or “no” on direction.
- Gather internal opinions beforehand instead of debating them live.
- Be honest about what has and has not worked on your current site.
- Focus on your users’ needs, not just internal preferences.
Next Steps After the Workshop
Once you have reviewed and approved the Design Direction Summary, we move into the design and build phases according to your project plan. If you need to adjust priorities based on new information, let us know as early as possible so we can incorporate changes with minimal impact on timeline and budget.
