Growth & Strategy
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
OK, so here's something that took me way too long to figure out: you can build the most gorgeous website in the world, and it won't matter if nobody sees it.
For the first few years of my freelance career, I was basically the architect of what I now call "digital ghost towns." I'd pour my energy into crafting pixel-perfect websites – brand-aligned, modern, conversion-optimized. Every client left our initial meetings thrilled about their upcoming digital transformation.
But here's what I discovered after tracking results across dozens of projects: I was essentially training world-class sales reps to do door-to-door sales in an empty neighborhood. These websites had become expensive digital brochures – impressive when someone stumbled upon them, but nobody was stumbling upon them.
The harsh reality? Without speed, even the world's best-designed website converts zero visitors. And slow sites don't just lose conversions – they never get the chance to convert in the first place because Google buries them.
In this playbook, you'll learn:
Why the design-first approach kills your site performance before launch
The exact framework I use to build speed into design from day one
How to convince clients that "fast" is more beautiful than "pretty"
Real examples of speed-first design wins from my client work
The tools and techniques that actually move the needle
This isn't about choosing ugly over beautiful – it's about building beautiful websites that people actually find. Check out more strategies in our website optimization playbooks.
Industry Reality
What every designer has been taught
Let's be honest about what the design industry preaches when it comes to site speed. Most web designers and agencies treat performance as an afterthought – something you "optimize" after the beautiful design is complete.
Here's the conventional wisdom everyone follows:
Design first, optimize later – Create the perfect visual experience, then worry about making it fast
Performance is a technical problem – Just compress images and minify CSS after launch
Users care more about beauty than speed – A stunning design will make up for slow load times
Speed optimization is expensive – You need enterprise CDNs and server upgrades
Mobile optimization comes last – Build for desktop, then adapt for mobile
This approach exists because it's how design education works. Design schools teach aesthetics first, performance never. Most designers genuinely don't know that a 3-second load time kills 53% of mobile visitors before they even see that beautiful homepage.
The problem? Google doesn't care how pretty your website is if it loads like molasses. Core Web Vitals became ranking factors for a reason. Yet most design processes completely ignore this reality until it's too late to fix without starting over.
The industry treats speed like a nice-to-have feature instead of the make-or-break foundation it actually is. That's why so many gorgeous websites sit in search engine purgatory, converting zero visitors because nobody can find them.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
This shift in my thinking came from a brutal pattern I noticed after analyzing my client portfolio. I had this moment where I realized I was essentially building expensive art projects instead of business assets.
The wake-up call came from tracking what actually happened after launch. These websites had become digital ghost towns – impressive when someone stumbled upon them, but nobody was stumbling upon them because Google buried slow sites in search results.
I remember working with a B2B SaaS client who was thrilled with their new website design. It looked incredible – modern, professional, perfectly aligned with their brand. But three months after launch, their organic traffic had actually decreased. The site was so heavy with animations and high-res images that it took 8 seconds to load on mobile.
That's when it clicked: I was treating website design like building a physical storefront when it's actually more like building a highway exit ramp. If people can't get to your store quickly and easily, it doesn't matter how beautiful it is inside.
The fundamental problem was my process. I'd been following the classic design workflow:
Create stunning mockups in Figma
Build pixel-perfect implementations
Add all the animations and interactions
Then try to optimize for speed afterward
But here's what I learned: you can't optimize your way out of a fundamentally slow architecture. If you build a heavy foundation, no amount of image compression will save you.
This realization forced me to completely restructure my approach. Instead of design-first thinking, I had to embrace what I now call "performance-first design" – where speed constraints actually improve the final result.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
After that wake-up call, I completely rebuilt my design process around speed. Here's the exact framework I use now that integrates performance optimization into every design decision from day one.
Phase 1: Speed Budget Before Mockups
Before I even open Figma, I establish performance budgets with the client. We agree on target metrics: 2-second load time on 3G, Lighthouse score above 90, Core Web Vitals in the green. These become non-negotiable constraints that guide every design choice.
This isn't about limiting creativity – it's about channeling it productively. When you know you have a 500KB JavaScript budget, you get creative about interactions instead of just adding heavy libraries.
Phase 2: Mobile-First Performance Architecture
Every design starts on mobile, not desktop. Why? Because mobile constraints force better decisions. If your design works fast on a slow phone with terrible connectivity, it'll fly on desktop.
I structure the information architecture around critical rendering paths. Above-the-fold content gets priority loading, everything else loads progressively. This means designing with lazy loading and code splitting in mind from the start.
Phase 3: Smart Asset Strategy
Instead of choosing images after design, I plan the visual strategy around performance. This means:
Designing with next-gen formats (WebP, AVIF) in mind
Creating responsive image systems from the start
Using CSS and SVG for graphics instead of heavy images
Building animation systems that use CSS transforms, not JavaScript
Phase 4: Platform-Optimized Development
The choice of platform now happens during design, not after. For most business websites, I default to platforms that prioritize performance:
Framer for marketing sites that need fast iteration
Webflow for content-heavy sites with CMS needs
Native Shopify for e-commerce (never headless unless absolutely necessary)
Each platform choice comes with performance implications that shape the design approach. You can read more about platform decisions in our Webflow vs Framer comparison.
Phase 5: Real-Time Performance Monitoring
Performance testing happens during design, not after launch. I use tools like PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix to test every major design iteration. If a new section tanks the performance score, we redesign it before moving forward.
This catch-and-fix approach is infinitely easier than trying to optimize a completed site. When performance is baked into the design process, you avoid the expensive rebuild cycle that kills most optimization projects.
Design Constraints
Performance budgets force creative solutions, not limitations. Working within speed constraints often produces more elegant designs.
Progressive Loading
Design the critical path first – what users see in the first 2 seconds. Everything else can load progressively without hurting the experience.
Platform Strategy
Choose your platform during design, not after. Each platform has performance implications that should shape your design decisions.
Mobile Reality
Mobile-first design with real device testing. If it works on a slow phone, it'll fly everywhere else.
The results of this performance-first approach have been dramatic. Here's what actually happened when I started building speed into design from day one:
Measurable Business Impact
The B2B SaaS client I mentioned earlier? After rebuilding their site with performance-first design, their organic traffic increased 340% in six months. More importantly, their conversion rate improved from 1.2% to 3.8% because users could actually interact with the site smoothly.
Client Retention Improvements
Fast sites don't just perform better – they're easier to maintain and update. Clients love being able to make content changes without worrying about breaking performance. This has dramatically reduced the "urgent fixes" that used to eat into my profit margins.
Competitive Advantages
When competing against other agencies, site speed has become my secret weapon. While competitors show beautiful mockups, I show real performance metrics. Clients increasingly understand that a fast website is a business asset, not just a marketing expense.
The most surprising result? Performance-first designs often look better than traditional approaches. When you're forced to be intentional about every element, you eliminate the visual clutter that slows down both loading and comprehension.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
This journey taught me some painful but valuable lessons about integrating speed into design work:
You can't optimize your way out of bad architecture – If you build heavy, no amount of tweaking will save you
Client education is crucial – You have to sell speed as a feature, not a constraint
Performance budgets prevent scope creep – When adding features costs speed, decisions become clearer
Mobile-first isn't just responsive design – It's a completely different way of thinking about user experience
Platform choice matters more than pixel perfection – A fast site on the right platform beats a perfect design on the wrong one
Real device testing reveals truth – Designing on a MacBook Pro doesn't reflect your users' reality
Performance-first designs age better – They stay fast as content grows and requirements change
The biggest mindset shift? Treating performance as a design feature, not a technical afterthought. When clients understand that speed directly impacts their bottom line, performance constraints become welcome guardrails instead of frustrating limitations.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS startups implementing this approach:
Establish performance budgets before design begins
Test on real devices your users actually have
Choose platforms that prioritize speed over customization
Monitor Core Web Vitals as business metrics
For your Ecommerce store
For e-commerce stores integrating speed optimization:
Optimize product images during design, not after upload
Design checkout flows for mobile-first performance
Use native platform features instead of heavy apps
Plan progressive loading for large product catalogs