Aware Design for websites
Help people find
what they came to
your website for.
Aware Design is an approach to building websites around what visitors are trying to do.
Someone exploring needs an introduction. Someone comparing needs details. Someone ready to act needs a clear next step.
Try a simple exampleChange a sample page yourself. No personal details needed.
A website demonstration
See a website respond
to different needs.
For this example, you’re the visitor. Imagine you’re thinking about attending a fictional photography workshop.
This sample starts with what you would learn at the workshop. Someone checking the cost or date could see those details first instead. The same information can have a different starting point.
This is a read-only version of the workshop example. It shows the introduction first. In the interactive version, choosing cost or availability moves those details to the top.
Starting view: what you would learn comes first. All four workshop details are below.
Better photos. The camera you already have.
- The idea
Learn to see the light.
Practice framing, natural light and portraits. Spend the day taking photos, not learning a menu of camera settings.
- Who it is for
Beginners are welcome.
Bring a phone or a camera. No specialist equipment or previous course needed.
- Time and cost
One day. $120.
10am–3pm, with a small group and a guided outdoor practice session. Lunch is not included.
- Availability
Saturday, 7 November.
Six places available in this fictional example. You would choose a date before entering payment details.
An invented one-day photography workshop. These details are examples, not an event you can book. The next-step label illustrates an action; it is not a booking button.
Back to your website
Now think about
your own website.
The workshop example shows how a visitor’s question can change what comes first—without changing prices or hiding information.
On your website, what different questions do people arrive with? Do they all have to follow the same route to find an answer?
A useful change might be an answer offered earlier, a shorter route, or—with permission—picking up an unfinished task.
The test is not whether a page changes. It is whether the change helps.
Read the short explanation of Aware DesignFind a starting point for your website
Where does your site
make people work too hard?
Choose a situation below to see a practical starting point. These are examples to consider, not an analysis of your website.
Different people are sent down the same path.
A buyer comparing options and a customer looking for help do not need the same introduction. Give each an obvious route—and keep both routes available.
Start small: make the two destinations clear before trying to infer who is visiting.
See an example and a first step for your site →The important details are there, but hard to find.
Find out which question people cannot answer: cost, eligibility, timing, or what happens next. Put that answer beside the decision it supports.
Start small: better content and navigation may be all you need. Adaptation is not always the answer.
Compare a simpler fix with an adaptive one →People have to explain themselves again.
A visitor uses a calculator, compares options, then starts a conversation from zero. With their permission, a short summary can preserve the context they choose to share.
Start small: let them review the summary before it goes to another person.
See a visitor-controlled handoff and its limits →