A website redesign is easy to underestimate. What begins as “we need a new look” quickly becomes a project involving content, technology, SEO, user journeys, stakeholders and internal workflows.

Before design begins, use these twelve questions to make sure the project is solving the right problem.

1. Why are you redesigning?

Define the business reason. Is the current site dated, difficult to manage, performing poorly, confusing users or no longer reflecting the brand?

2. Who are the priority users?

A website cannot treat every visitor as equally important. Identify your primary audiences and what each group needs to accomplish.

3. What are the most important user journeys?

Map the actions that matter: finding a service, applying, booking, contacting, comparing, downloading or discovering information.

4. Is the information architecture still working?

Years of adding pages often create navigation that reflects internal departments rather than user needs. A redesign is the right moment to rethink the structure.

This was especially important in our HKADC website revamp, where multiple audiences needed access to funding, events, publications and arts resources.

5. What content should stay?

Do not automatically migrate everything. Audit existing pages and decide what to keep, rewrite, merge, redirect or remove.

6. What does success look like?

Agree on measurable outcomes. These might include qualified enquiries, applications, content discovery, engagement, organic traffic or reduced support enquiries.

7. Which CMS is appropriate?

Choose technology based on editors, content structure, integrations, security and future growth rather than familiarity alone.

8. What functionality is genuinely necessary?

Separate essential features from nice-to-have ideas. Search, filtering, calculators, member areas, APIs and multilingual workflows can materially change scope.

9. How important is brand differentiation?

If the website is a major brand touchpoint, avoid making visual design an afterthought. The experience should feel recognisably yours.

10. Have SEO requirements been considered before development?

URLs, redirects, metadata, headings, structured content, performance and internal links should be planned before launch, not patched afterwards.

11. What happens on mobile?

Responsive design is more than shrinking desktop layouts. Priorities, interactions and navigation may need to change on smaller screens.

12. Who owns the website after launch?

Define governance, training, maintenance, analytics and content responsibilities. A website is an operating platform, not a one-off deliverable.

A redesign should solve more than aesthetics

The strongest redesign projects connect business objectives, user needs, content and technology before visual execution begins. That preparation makes the design process faster and gives every creative decision a reason to exist.

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網站改版往往比想像中複雜。一句「想個網站新啲」，很快便會延伸至內容、技術、SEO、User Journey、不同持份者及內部工作流程。

正式開始設計前，可以先用以下 12 個問題檢視項目是否正在解決正確的問題。

1. 為甚麼要改版？

先定義商業原因：網站是否過時、難以管理、成效下降、令用戶混亂，還是已經不能代表今天的品牌？

2. 最重要的用戶是誰？

網站不能把所有訪客視為同一類人。找出主要 Target Audience，以及每類用戶真正希望完成的事情。

3. 最重要的 User Journey 是甚麼？

列出核心行動，例如尋找服務、申請、預約、聯絡、比較、下載或搜尋資訊。

4. Information Architecture 還有效嗎？

企業網站經過多年新增內容後，Navigation 很容易變成公司內部架構，而不是用戶的思考方式。改版正是重新整理資訊架構的最佳時機。

我們在 HKADC 網站改版 中亦面對類似挑戰，需要讓不同用戶更容易找到資助、活動、出版物及藝術資源。

5. 哪些內容應該保留？

不要把舊網站所有內容原封不動搬過去。先進行 Content Audit，決定哪些保留、重寫、合併、Redirect 或刪除。

6. 如何定義成功？

預先設定可以衡量的目標，例如有效查詢、申請數量、內容瀏覽、Organic Traffic、Engagement 或減少客服查詢。

7. 應該選擇哪一種 CMS？

CMS 應按照編輯團隊、內容架構、Integration、安全及未來擴展需要選擇，而不是單純因為「以前用過」。

8. 哪些功能真正必要？

把 Must-have 與 Nice-to-have 分開。搜尋、Filtering、Calculator、會員系統、API 及多語言管理都可能大幅改變 Scope。

9. 品牌差異化有多重要？

如果網站是重要品牌接觸點，Visual Design 不應只是最後美化。整個體驗都應該讓人感受到品牌個性。

10. 開發前是否已考慮 SEO？

URL、Redirect、Metadata、Heading、Structured Content、Performance 及 Internal Link 應在開發前規劃，而不是 Launch 後才補救。

11. Mobile Experience 是否真正被設計？

Responsive Design 不只是把 Desktop 縮細。內容優先次序、Navigation 及 Interaction 在手機上都可能需要重新考慮。

12. Launch 後誰負責網站？

預先定義 Content Governance、CMS Training、Maintenance、Analytics 及內容責任。網站是一個持續營運的平台，不是一次性的 Deliverable。

網站改版不應只解決「好唔好睇」

最成功的企業網站改版，會在開始 Visual Design 前先連結商業目標、用戶需要、內容及技術。當策略清晰，每一個設計決定才真正有原因。