When Designing Your Systems, Prioritize Client Experience
Imagine you follow-up with the children’s clothing boutique owner that sent you a DM on Instagram.
You send her the link to book a Discovery Call. She selects a date, answers the ten questions you ask to pre-qualify potential clients, and clicks submit. She gets an automated, templated confirmation in her inbox and adds the call to her calendar.
Now imagine…
You send a link to book a Discovery Call, which lives on a branded, beautiful page that primes her on what to expect during the call, like the types of questions you might ask. It’s friendly, informative, and designed to set her at ease.
She books, filling out a form that gathers just enough information for you without stressing her out. When she clicks submit, she’s redirected to a special page on your website that expresses how excited you are to be talking with her. Think confetti in gif form. Then she opens her inbox to find a confirmation email that shows off your agency's personality. Pop culture references and all.
The process from when she sent you a DM to her booking a call are the same in both scenarios. The same steps. Each takes the same amount of effort on your part. But one feels very different from the potential client’s point of view.
When we set out to build systems to support our service delivery, we think about where we can automate to save time, where we can delegate to someone else, how we can make the process on ourselves as easy as possible. But we often forget what the client’s experience is of those systems.
Maybe we build a client portal that makes perfect sense to us, but requires our already overwhelmed clients to learn a brand new piece of software (that’s not very intuitive).
Or we automate so much of the process, that the client starts to wonder if she’s actually working with a real person.
When you design the systems for the full client journey, it’s important to remember the client during the process. Investing in the professional design of a website is a huge milestone for many business owners, after all.
What are they feeling at each phase? What do they need to know? How much cognitive load are they being asked to carry?
How can you build a system that supports both your team and provides a referral-worthy experience for the client? Let’s dive in.
What Is the Client Experience (Really)?
At its core, the client experience is the journey a client takes from the moment they realize they have a problem and need a solution to the moment they complete their work with you.
It’s also how they feel at every stage—whether that’s excited, confused, reassured, or lost—and what they’re thinking about.
A well-designed client experience builds trust, nurtures relationships, and ultimately leads to more upgraded packages, maintenance packages, future redesign work, or referrals.
When you build a system with client experience at the forefront, not only will you delight your clients, but you’ll likely…
Book better-fit projects
Begin projects with the information, access, and decisions needed to do your work
Reduce scope creep and keep project moving within the planned timeline
Improve your profit margins
A better client experience is not “more touchpoints.” It’s fewer moments when a client or team member has to guess what happens next.
Understanding the Client Journey
The client journey is more than your sales pipeline or project workflow. It begins when someone realizes they have a problem, before they even know you can provide a solution.
The five phases of the client journey
There are five core phases of any client journey: inquiry, onboarding, service delivery, and offboarding/transition.
1. Awareness
This is the point before someone contacts your agency. They are beginning to recognize that something is not working, like a website that no longer supports where their business is headed. They begin looking for a possible solution and who might be able to help.
Before they inquiry, they’ve likely already checked out your social media accounts, read through your website, maybe even listened to podcast interviews. All of these can reduce the uncertainty and help them see that you’re the solution for them.
A great experience here sounds like: “I understand what may be causing this problem, what kind of support I might need, and why this designer could be the right person to guide me.”
Questions to consider:
Can they recognize themselves in your website copy, social media content, and emails?
Do you clearly explain the outcomes of your work?
Do they have enough information to understand who you work with, what types of projects you do, and what makes you a good fit?
Are you building trust through transparent pricing guidance, timelines, process explanations, values, testimonials, and examples of past work?
2. Inquiry
This is the phase where that potential client actively reaches out to you, starting a conversation about your services. They might use your contact form, send a DM, book a consultation call, or send a regular only email.
At this point they’re usually trying to answer: Do you understand my problem? Are you credible? What will it be like to work with you?
A great experience here sounds like: “I understand whether this is right for me, and I trust these people to guide me.”
Questions to consider:
First impressions matter. Is your inquiry process clear and easy?
Are you setting expectations about pricing, timeline, and next steps upfront?
Are you filtering for the right-fit clients so neither party wastes time?
3. Onboarding
Onboarding begins with the yes and moves through preparing, informing, and getting the client ready to begin the work. During this phase, you typically send an agreement or contract, an initial invoice, and welcome messages. The client is often expected to fill out an intake questionnaire and share assets and access/log-ins.
More than admin tasks, onboarding is where the client learns what the relationship will feel like: how communication works, what they are responsible for, what happens next, and how supported they will be.
A great experience here sounds like: “I know what I’m buying, what I’m responsible for, and what will happen next.”
Questions to consider:
Once a client says "yes," how are you showing your excitement in working with them?
Are your contracts and invoices clear and easy to understand?
Does your onboarding feel overwhelming, with too much information all at once?
Is the asset collection process easy to understand? Not all clients may be tech savvy.
Have you clearly defined client responsibilities, timelines, milestones, and the approval process?
Are they confident in what happens next?
4. Service Delivery
For you as the designer, this may include strategy, research, content gathering, design, review meetings, feedback and revisions, etc. For the client, delivery is not just “the designer designing my page.” It’s the experience of participating in decisions, understanding the progress, giving feedback, and managing their own responsibilities. And most importantly, it’s gaining confidence that what you create together will solve the problem they hired you to solve.
A great experience here sounds like: “I know exactly where we are in the process and what is expected of me next. And I know where to go if I feel stuck.”
Questions to consider:
How are you sharing milestone updates throughout the project?
How do they know they have a deadline to meet?
Are design presentations clear and do they know what’s expected of them during a presentation?
Is feedback consolidated in one place or so you have to search in 5 different spots?
Are you balancing efficiency with personal connection?
5. Offboarding & Beyond
During offboarding, you wrap up the project and provide the client with what they need to use, maintain, and benefit from the site you delivered. It often includes launching the site, transferring files and access, training, final invoicing, and clear guidance on what future support is available.
It can also include gathering feedback, requesting a testimonial, and asking for referrals.
Offboarding doesn’t end once the files are handed over. And it’s more than series of emails requesting testimonials. Offboarding is also intentional check-ins over the following weeks, months, and year to help clients understand the value of the work you did together.
A great experience here sounds like: “They care about me, not just finishing the project.”
Questions to consider:
Do they understand the website launch process?
Have you provided them with trainings and/or recordings so they know how to update their site in the future?
Have you clearly defined maintenance and future support boundaries?
Are you wrapping up the project in a way that leaves clients feeling supported?
Are you making it easy for them to refer others or work with you again?
Are you gathering feedback to continuously refine the experience?
The Common Pitfalls of Client Experience Systems (And How to Avoid Them)
Even the best intentions can lead to frustrating systems. Here are a few common mistakes and how to sidestep them:
Over-automation that feels robotic: Automate routine, predictable tasks, like call reminders, milestone updates, and overdue task notifications. But keep steps that require judgment, reassurance, and creative direction manual and human-first.
Lack of clarity that leaves clients confused: If your clients have to email you multiple times asking, “What happens next?” that’s a sign your process needs refinement. Clear communication and well-timed touchpoints can prevent this.
Not collecting feedback: Unless you ask, you likely won’t know about friction points your clients encountered, the things that confused them, or where they felt unsure of what was expected of them. Two or three simple questions as you move from one phase to the next will help you understand just how your clients are experiencing your process.
Ignoring your own work style: The best system for you is one you’ll actually use. If you hate complicated tech, don’t build a system around complex tools. Keep it simple and aligned with how you naturally work.
A client portal is not the client experience
A polished ClickUp, Notion, or Honeybook setup isn’t the complete client experience, just one tool you can use to eliminate uncertainty and confusion.
The client-facing experience should be simple, guided, and reassuring. They need to know:
Where the project stands.
What they need to do next.
When it is due.
How to submit feedback or assets.
Who to contact and through which channel.
What happens if they are late, request something new, or need support after launch.
You can accomplish this with a well-designed client portal. But client portals can also create obstacles and friction for the client if their experience isn’t at the forefront when you design the portal.
Design an experience for YOUR clients and YOUR business
At the end of the day, your client experience should make your business smoother, not more stressful. A well-built system supports you and your clients, creating ease instead of overwhelm.
So, where do you start? Take a look at your current client journey and ask yourself:
Was this client the right fit?
Did the project start before content, assets, or access was ready?
Did the client provide feedback and approvals on time?
Did the scope slip without a timeline or fee adjustment?
Where did the client seem confused or stuck?
Where did you feel like the bottleneck?
Was more time spent on the project than originally planned?
A well-designed client experience guides your clients through an unfamiliar and meaningful investment with clarity, confidence, and care. From their first inquiry well past the launch of their site.
If you’re ready to refine your process but don’t know where to start, I help web designers create reliable, high-touch delivery experiences that protect their time, keep projects moving, and make the clients feel delighted and ready to refer all their friends.
*This blog post was made with the assistance of AI. However all thoughts, ideas, and words are mine unless otherwise cited.
