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My Checklist Before Starting Any Web Project
Leading a web development team, I’ve learned that success is rarely about code alone. It’s about clarity before the first line is written.
Here’s the checklist I go through every single time:
1. Clear Business Goal
What exactly are we trying to achieve? More leads, sales, signups, or engagement? If this isn’t crystal clear, everything else becomes guesswork.
2. Target Audience Understanding
Who are we building this for? Their expectations, behavior, and pain points directly shape UX decisions.
3. Competitor & Reference Analysis
I always review similar products. Not to copy — but to identify gaps and opportunities to stand out.
4. Scope Definition (MVP First)
What’s essential for launch? Cutting unnecessary features early saves time, budget, and headaches.
5. User Flow Mapping
Before design, I map how users will move through the product. If the flow is broken, design won’t fix it.
6. Tech Stack Decision
Choosing the right tools upfront prevents costly rewrites later. It’s about scalability, not just speed.
7. Content Structure
Good structure beats beautiful design. If the message isn’t clear, users won’t convert.
8. Timeline & Milestones
No vague deadlines. Clear phases = predictable delivery.
9. Communication Rules
Who’s responsible for decisions? How often do we sync? This alone can make or break a project.
Skipping these steps usually leads to delays, scope creep, and frustration on both sides.
Doing them right?
That’s what turns a “website” into a real business tool.
Curious - what’s something you always check before starting a project?
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Looking good 🙌
This conversation happened this week.
A client needed a full infrastructure app.
Multiple modules. Local and production testing.
Bug-free delivery. 3 month timeline.
We spent days going through the scope.
Not hours. Days.
Architecture. Integrations. Edge cases.
What the product needs to actually survive
in production with real users.
My team even reverse-engineered their
existing scripts to understand what
we'd actually be working with.
Then the budget conversation came up.
"My max budget is $25K
for the whole app with all modules."
My honest response?
"That's about 50% of what I was thinking."
I could've said yes.
Taken the $25K.
Cut scope secretly.
Delivered something half-baked.
Blamed the client later for "unclear requirements."
That's what most teams do.
I've never done that.
And I never will.
Because I've been on the other side.
I've cleaned up projects where the previous team
said yes to a budget they knew was too low.
The client always pays twice.
Once for the cheap build.
Once for the rebuild.
So what happened next?
We talked it through.
Found a realistic scope that respects his budget
without compromising what matters.
No fake promises. No inflated timelines.
Just an honest conversation between
two people trying to make it work.
That's the screenshot below.
That's how every project should start.
#SoftwareDevelopment #StartupFounders
https://entalogics.com
This is seriously impressive work. The attention to detail and level of execution stand out immediately. You’ve set a high standard here, well done.
Today I help someone with a free audit of their website, then I spent about an hour to fix it and see what I could do with it.
The original website was built in Squarespace and I imported it in Figma. I tried to keep as much of the original website as I could since the core or the design like, typography, colours and images weren't bad.
2 voted
17%
10 voted
83%
12 votes
Closed
Love the fact that you kept most of the website yet transformed it in a way where it became 100x better.
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