Trace the shift from early static pages to CSS layouts, mobile-first design, responsive sites, web apps, design systems, and today’s AI-assisted workflows. The goal is to see why current web design practices exist.

Turn a request like “we need a website” into goals, audiences, constraints, success measures, and a realistic scope. This chapter covers briefs, stakeholder questions, and the difference between business needs and user needs.

Organize pages so people can find what they came for. You will create simple sitemaps, page outlines, labels, and navigation structures for real site content.

Write headings, calls to action, labels, help text, and error messages that guide people clearly. Good web copy makes designs easier to use before any visual polish is added.

Map the steps people take through a site, then sketch low-fidelity wireframes for key pages. This keeps layout decisions focused on tasks instead of decoration.

Use size, spacing, grouping, alignment, and contrast to show what matters first. You will practice turning a plain page outline into a screen with clear priority.

Choose and combine typefaces, set readable sizes, control line length, and build type scales for headings and body text. Typography becomes a practical tool for clarity, mood, and trust.

Pick color palettes with enough contrast, use images and icons with purpose, and keep brand choices consistent. This chapter connects visual style to readability, accessibility, and user confidence.

Design links, buttons, menus, forms, search fields, filters, modals, and empty states. You will make common interface pieces clear, usable, and consistent across a site.

Build accessibility into decisions about structure, contrast, keyboard use, focus states, labels, alt text, and plain language. You will work with WCAG ideas in practical design situations instead of treating accessibility as a final checklist.

Write simple semantic HTML for headings, paragraphs, lists, links, images, forms, and landmarks. This helps you design with the real material of the web, not just flat mockups.

Style pages with selectors, the cascade, spacing, color, typography, borders, and states. You will connect visual choices to the CSS rules that make them real in a browser.

Place content with Flexbox and CSS Grid instead of guessing with margins. You will create practical layouts such as cards, sidebars, galleries, pricing tables, and page sections.

Design pages that work on phones, tablets, laptops, and large screens. This chapter covers fluid layouts, breakpoints, touch targets, readable text, and content priority across screen sizes.

Use container queries, custom properties, fluid type, modern color tools, and user preferences to make components adapt in smarter ways. These newer CSS capabilities change how designers think about flexible interfaces.

Create organized design files with frames, auto layout, styles, variants, comments, and shared libraries. You will use Figma-style workflows to move from rough ideas to clear collaborative designs.

Turn repeated interface pieces into reusable buttons, cards, forms, navigation bars, and page sections. You will define states, rules, and variations so the site stays consistent as it grows.

Create a small design system with tokens, component rules, accessibility notes, usage examples, and maintenance habits. This chapter shows how teams keep many pages and products feeling like one coherent experience.

Use icons, photos, illustration, video, and motion without slowing people down or distracting them. You will decide when media supports meaning and when it becomes noise.

Run quick usability tests, observe where people struggle, and turn findings into design changes. You will practice testing wireframes, prototypes, and live pages with simple, low-cost methods.

Design with file size, loading order, responsive images, fonts, animation, and Core Web Vitals in mind. Performance becomes part of the user experience, not just a developer concern.

Make pages easier to find through clear structure, useful titles, metadata, internal links, readable URLs, and content that matches search intent. This chapter connects design, content, and technical choices that affect visibility.

Handle analytics, cookies, forms, tracking pixels, consent banners, and personal data with care. You will see how privacy laws and user trust shape common web design decisions.

Work with WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, Squarespace, and similar platforms as design environments with limits and strengths. You will plan templates, reusable sections, content editing, and maintenance for real client sites.

Create product pages, carts, checkout flows, pricing sections, trust signals, and account areas that reduce confusion. This chapter balances conversion goals with accessibility, honesty, and user control.

Design dashboards, settings, tables, filters, notifications, permissions, and complex states for web apps. You will handle dense information and repeated tasks without overwhelming users.

Use AI tools for research summaries, layout variations, copy drafts, image ideas, code snippets, and accessibility checks while keeping human judgment in charge. This chapter also covers bias, originality, privacy, and when AI output is not safe to use.

Prepare specs, assets, responsive behavior, states, accessibility notes, and acceptance criteria that developers can act on. You will also use browser inspection and design review habits to catch issues before launch.

Follow a real project from brief to launch: discovery, content planning, wireframes, visual design, prototype testing, build support, quality checks, launch, and follow-up. This ties the course skills into one professional workflow.

Use analytics, user feedback, support questions, search data, and testing results to improve a live site over time. You will plan safe updates instead of treating launch as the finish line.

Compare roles such as web designer, UX designer, UI designer, product designer, visual designer, accessibility specialist, and Webflow or WordPress builder. This chapter covers portfolios, proof-of-skill projects, certifications worth considering, communities, and habits for staying current.