Although it is not something so new, the GDD (Growth Driven Design) or as we call it in Impactum the Web Design Focused on growth has not had practically adoption by the web development companies, we believe that for many reasons but the principal due to the greater commitment with the client that is required and its complexity, that is why we are currently the only agency in San Luis Potosí and Bajio that offers it. Despite this, we are continuously promoting the adoption of the methodology with our clients and new prospects asking for web pages and for this it is important to make the differences very clear:
What is GDD or Web Design Focused on Growth?
It is a different approach to web design that starts from the following:
No web designer is certain that your page will work
Many customers arrive and ask «what is your guarantee on generated visits or prospects?» and always the answer is the same: None because unfortunately I do not see the future. Another thing is that I have data that allow me to make an educated estimate but this in no way constitutes a guarantee. No professional in marketing gives guarantees in these numbers simply because there are too many things that are out of your control.
The same happens with web pages and as web developers you have to be humble to recognize it. We can invest all our knowledge in making a client’s page and years of experience and learning in best practices but in the end the one that decides whether it works or not is the market. Until your web page is published and real visitors arrive, until that moment we can start to see if it works or not. So why do we invest so much money before that point and then we do not invest anything? It’s exactly what the GDD starts from, not invest so much before this point because you do not know if it will work, get something fast and quality as fast as possible and start to improve it from there.
Methodology of continuous improvement based on data
Another fundamentally different approach is the focus on data and customer-centricity. In a traditional web design all part of the company, changes and design in general are made because the company asks them,why? Because one day the Director seemed right to change it, rarely this type of design or change obey a strategic or data-based motive. On the other hand the GDD ignores all this and the changes start from the client based on data. Do we add a bigger button? We add it and we test if that improves our conversions, if so, we leave it, if not, it is removed.
This part is difficult to understand in Mexico where the majority of Freelancers and Web Design Agencies have spoiled their clients and they meet this type of change without having a reason behind, an agency that implements GDD its main function is to provide consulting to their clients in what is the best way to follow to improve their results and clients must trust that they have an expert agency and that they will base their decisions on supported strategies with objective data (not experience or the famous «I know). that will work for you «).
About this same majority offers very limited support when finishing their work on the website, they see it as a project that they finish and deliver but the client later needs help that they rarely find in their provider since they have paid 100% of the draft. The GDD on the other hand divides the cost of the project into monthly payments, usually for one year and each month there is a certain amount of work on the site, that is, work is constantly being done on this and as there is a contract and monthly payments, all the you have the accompaniment and support.
What is NOT GDD or Web Design Focused on Growth?
There are also several misunderstandings when proposing a match of GDD and a traditional Web Design project, here we present some:
I will have a small or incomplete page the first month
In the GDD there is a concept that we call Launch Page, which is our minimum viable product that consists of the minimum acceptable to launch your page as soon as possible, start collecting information from visitors and improve it based on tangible data. This page is a 100% functional website, 100% designed and finished in every sense of the word, the fundamental difference is that it will not contain 10 sections, it will not contain a large catalog, it will not be possible to put a gallery as big as the one you would have entered into a more complex web design project but you must transmit 100% of the essence of your business. Also, in most cases, sections that do not help you or generate visits or generate leads are omitted, they are sections that people do not like but many companies ask anyway, why? Because it is normal and yes all web agencies and professionals do, but this does not mean that it is correct.
It is a way to pay less and in monthly payments
Another confusion is that it is simply the division of what would cost me the normal website but paid in 12 months, this is incorrect for 2 things. In the first one is not calculated in this way, the GDD equals are calculated based on the time that each member of the team of the agency you are going to hire will invest to be able to carry out the work of each month. Second, you are not quoting the same thing, maybe a project today we will refine it in a way but working in GDD it may not even stop and end up creating something completely different with different functions that were not contemplated at the beginning, it is impossible to try to predict what is going to need to be done in a GDD match.
It’s a way to charge me more per year
Although it is the opposite of the previous point, it is quite related since usually an equal of GDD for a small company usually seems higher than if it contracted the traditional web design but again, this is because they are comparing pears with apples. In the traditional design you are paying for a specific result, in the GDD you are hiring a team of professionals and you are depositing the main asset of your company (your website) in their hands but you do not know what is going to happen without embarrassment. They will do a professional job.
Design focused on growth in Impactum
At Impactum we are proud to be a certified company focused on growth by Hubspot, we use the bases of the methodology and adapt to the Mexican market creating solutions for SMEs and large companies, we are happy to say that a good portion of the income of Impactum come from GDD equals of companies that have been working with us for more than a year as we provide a follow-up and consulting service that they had never seen, combined with excellent results and objective-based communication. We use the best technologies worldwide in web development and we use different services to streamline work and this is translated into better prices and better results for our customers. We only give traditional web design proposals in an illustrative way but we no longer take these projects because we know that both your company and us are better suited to a GDD, for us it is a greater commitment to your company and for you, you will have the assurance that is advancing and generating results your web page. Turn your website into what it should be, the most important asset for your company and start generating leads and opportunities.