Before touching a single wireframe, our design team runs every site through a systematic audit. This checklist evolved over 60+ redesign projects. It catches the issues that consistently hurt conversion, accessibility, and user retention โ€” before anyone starts designing solutions.

1. Navigation & Information Architecture (7 points)

  • Can a first-time visitor identify the site's purpose within 5 seconds?
  • Is the primary navigation visible without scrolling on all devices?
  • Does the navigation use clear, user-oriented labels (not internal jargon)?
  • Is there a visible, functional search for sites with more than 20 pages?
  • Are breadcrumbs present on all pages deeper than level 2?
  • Does the footer contain secondary navigation and contact information?
  • Are 404 pages helpful, with navigation and a search field?

2. Content Hierarchy & Readability (4 points)

  • Is body text at least 16px with a line-height of 1.5โ€“1.7?
  • Is there a clear visual hierarchy (H1 โ†’ H2 โ†’ H3) on every page?
  • Are paragraphs kept to 3โ€“5 sentences with visible spacing between them?
  • Is the contrast ratio between text and background at least 4.5:1 (WCAG AA)?

3. Form Design (4 points)

  • Are form labels visible above their fields (not placeholder-only)?
  • Is inline validation provided โ€” errors shown at the field level, not only on submit?
  • Are error messages specific ("Enter a valid email address") not generic ("Invalid input")?
  • Is the primary CTA button visually distinct from secondary actions?

4. Mobile & Responsive (4 points)

  • Are all tap targets at least 44ร—44px on mobile?
  • Is horizontal scrolling absent on all pages at 320px viewport width?
  • Do modals and overlays close correctly on mobile (including the back button)?
  • Are form inputs set to the correct mobile keyboard type (inputmode="email", type="tel", etc.)?

5. Performance Perception (3 points)

  • Is there a visible loading indicator for any operation taking longer than 1 second?
  • Are images lazy-loaded below the fold?
  • Does the page render meaningful content within 2.5 seconds on a 4G connection (LCP)?

6. Accessibility โ€” WCAG 2.2 (3 points)

  • Can all interactive elements be reached and activated via keyboard alone?
  • Do all images have descriptive alt text (or alt="" for decorative images)?
  • Are focus states visible on all interactive elements?

Using This Checklist

Score each item as Pass / Fail / Not Applicable. Any Fail on items 1โ€“3 is a priority-1 fix before the redesign starts. Items 4โ€“6 are typically addressed during the redesign itself. Document everything with screenshots โ€” this becomes the baseline against which the redesign is measured.