When a website isn’t working as expected, a redesign can seem like the obvious next step. A fresh look, better layouts, updated content and a more modern experience all sound like progress.

But before deciding what to change, there’s a more important question to answer: What problem are we actually trying to solve?

A website might look dated, struggle to generate enquiries or leave visitors searching for information. These are legitimate reasons to investigate what could be improved. However, they don’t automatically tell us what needs to change.

The issue might be the design. It might also be the content, the way information is organized, the steps people need to take or even the expectations they’ve brought to the website.

Without understanding what’s happening and why, it’s difficult to know whether a redesign will address the problem or simply give the existing experience a new look.

The problem with jumping straight to solutions

It’s easy to move from noticing a problem to proposing a fix.

If visitors aren’t getting in touch, perhaps the website needs stronger calls to action. If people struggle to find information, perhaps the navigation needs an overhaul. Or if the website is difficult to maintain, perhaps it’s time for a new content management system.

Each suggestion might be reasonable. The trouble is that each assumes we already understand the cause.

Consider a website that isn’t generating as many enquiries as expected. A redesign might improve the experience, but it won’t necessarily help if visitors can’t tell whether the organization offers the service they need. Likewise, a new contact form won’t solve the problem if people aren’t confident that the service is right for them in the first place.

The same symptom can have several possible explanations. Until we understand which factors are contributing to it, we’re choosing a solution without knowing whether it addresses the underlying issue.

That doesn’t mean every website project needs months of research before work can begin. It means taking enough time to understand the problem to make an informed decision about what to do next.

What looks like a design problem might not be one

A website is made up of interconnected parts. Its content, structure, functionality, visual design and technical foundations all contribute to the experience people have.

When something isn’t working, the cause may sit in one area or span several.

For example, visitors might struggle to find a particular service. The immediate assumption might be that the navigation needs to change. But perhaps the service is described using terminology visitors don’t recognize. Perhaps it’s grouped with other services in a way that doesn’t reflect how people look for it. Or perhaps visitors can find the page but still can’t tell whether the service applies to them.

These problems call for different responses. Changing the navigation might help with one, while clearer language, a different content structure or more useful supporting information might be needed for another.

The same applies to a website that looks outdated. Visual improvements might be worthwhile, but appearance alone doesn’t tell us whether the website is meeting people’s needs or supporting the organization’s goals.

The challenge isn’t simply identifying what’s wrong. It’s understanding why it’s happening and what needs to change as a result.

That distinction matters because website decisions rarely exist in isolation. A change to the navigation can affect the content structure. A new feature can introduce additional steps. A new platform can change how content is managed without making the publishing process any easier.

Looking at the wider experience helps ensure that the solution addresses the problem rather than just the most visible symptom.

Start with the problem, not the proposed solution

Defining the problem means understanding what’s happening, where things are falling short, and what needs to change before deciding how to address it.

It starts with understanding the people involved and what they’re trying to accomplish.

What do visitors come to the website to do? Where are they encountering difficulty? What does the organization need the website to achieve? And what evidence do we have about the gap between those needs and the current experience?

Different sources can help answer these questions.

• Website analytics can reveal patterns in behaviour, such as pages people visit, routes they take and points where they leave.
• User feedback and interviews can help explain what people are trying to accomplish and where their expectations aren’t being met.
• Usability testing can reveal difficulties that aren’t obvious from analytics alone.
• Conversations with stakeholders can clarify business requirements, operational constraints and competing priorities.

No single source necessarily tells the whole story. The aim is to bring the evidence together, examine possible explanations and distinguish what we know from what we’re assuming.

This is consistent with recent research on problem framing. A 2025 review in the Journal of Product Innovation Management describes problem framing as an exploratory process that helps teams determine which aspects of a complex situation matter before developing solutions. The authors emphasize that framing a problem isn’t simply a preliminary step; it influences which solutions a team considers in the first place.

For a website project, that means resisting the urge to settle on a solution too early. Instead, investigate the problem, consider different explanations and use the findings to guide the next decision.

Five questions to answer before redesigning your website

You don’t need a complicated research project to begin asking better questions. Start with these five.

1. What isn’t working?

Describe the issue as clearly as possible without prescribing the fix. Instead of saying the website needs better navigation, for example, identify what people are struggling to find or where they appear to get lost.

2. Who is experiencing the problem?

Different visitors may have different needs, expectations and levels of familiarity with your organization. Understanding who is affected helps you avoid designing a solution around assumptions about what everyone needs.

3. What evidence do we have?

Look beyond the loudest feedback or the most visible complaint. Consider analytics, user feedback, usability findings and stakeholder input. If the evidence is incomplete, identify what you need to learn before making a decision.

4. What might be causing it?

Explore more than one explanation. A navigation issue might involve labels, content grouping or the terminology people use when looking for information. A lack of enquiries might involve the offer, the messaging, the user journey or something outside the website itself.

5. What needs to improve?

Establish what success should look like before choosing the solution. That might mean helping visitors complete a task more easily, making an important service easier to find, reducing avoidable support requests or making the website simpler for staff to maintain.

These questions won’t automatically tell you what to build. They’ll help you make a more informed decision about where to focus your effort and what the work needs to achieve.

A clearer problem leads to better decisions

Once the problem is better understood, the options often become easier to evaluate.

You might discover that the website needs a full redesign. Or you might find that restructuring the information, refining a few key pages or addressing a specific usability issue would be more appropriate. You might even identify a technical limitation or an internal process that needs attention before any visual changes will make a difference.

The point isn’t to avoid a redesign or choose the smallest possible solution. It’s to choose an approach that responds to the problem you’ve actually identified.

A clear problem definition also gives the project a more useful basis for decision-making. It helps establish priorities, distinguish essential requirements from nice-to-haves and assess proposed changes against the outcomes they are intended to support.

It also gives you a way to evaluate the result. If the original problem was that visitors couldn’t find an important service, you can assess whether the new experience makes that service easier to locate. If staff struggled to keep information current, you can examine whether the revised approach addresses the underlying maintenance challenges.

Without that starting point, it’s easy to measure a project by what was delivered rather than what it was meant to improve.

Before you decide what to change, understand what needs to change

A website redesign can be a valuable investment. But the decision to redesign should follow an understanding of the problem, not replace it.

Taking time to investigate what isn’t working, consider the evidence and define the desired outcome creates a stronger foundation for the work that follows. It helps organizations make more deliberate choices about where to invest, what to prioritize and how to recognize meaningful improvement.

You don’t need to have every answer before a project begins. You do need a clear enough understanding of the problem to know what you’re trying to solve.

Start with the right questions

Planning a website redesign or wondering why your current website isn’t delivering what you need? Let’s talk about what’s working, what’s not, and where there’s room to improve.