Method · gates · checks
How I work
A way of working you can read end to end and verify on this very site: where the gates are, what I show at each, and at which moment you can say no.
Two finished projects were built with this same method — you can see what comes out of it there.
Gates: at each one you approve or amend
There are four steps. Each ends with your decision, and the next does not begin until there is one. The timelines are working days, not calendar days.
Brief
1 working day
You write what you need. I ask clarifying questions — usually few — and say whether I take the job.
You approve: the task and its boundaries
Estimate and date
1 working day
A fixed price, a fixed delivery date, a list of what is included and what is not. In one email, with no ranges and no «from».
You approve: the price and the date
Build
The timeline from the price list
Three gates in a row inside: structure and copy first, then the visual, then the markup. The next does not start without your yes.
You approve: each of the three
Delivery
On delivery day
Accessibility and speed checks, handover of access and the domain.
You approve: the handover
What happens if you say no
A gate with no right of refusal is an announcement, not a gate. So this says exactly how a no ends at each step, before you have to ask.
- At the brief
- I answer whether I take it. If the job is not mine, I say so at once and do not take it. There was no money at this step, so there is nothing to return.
- At the estimate
- Until you agree to the price and the date, the work has not started. A refusal here costs nothing and needs no paperwork — the correspondence simply ends.
- At the structure
- We rewrite before anything is drawn. This is the cheapest moment for changes, and that is exactly why it comes before the visual.
- At the visual
- A round of revisions is in the price. If the direction still does not fit after it, you pay for what was done and take the sources.
- At the markup
- The markup is amended, not the decision: you approved the decision at an earlier gate. Changing the decision is another round of revisions, and it is a separate line in the price list.
- At delivery
- If you do not accept, I work through your list of notes within the round of revisions. I do not hold the work hostage: the domain, the access and the sources are yours either way.
The checks every project goes through
The list is the same for a landing and for a site. The amount of work differs — the checks do not.
The table scrolls sideways
| Check | What I check with | When |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | axe, WCAG 2.2 AA criteria | Before delivery |
| Keyboard | The whole page walked without a mouse | Before delivery |
| Speed and weight | Lighthouse | Before delivery |
| Four widths | 390 · 768 · 1024 · 1440, by hand | At the markup gate |
| Contrast | A script that computes every colour pair | When tokens are built |
| Links | Every link on the page walked | Before delivery |
| Data | Price, timeline and VAT — from one object | On every build |
The measured results of this site
I publish only what is measured on this very site: a named tool, the date of the measurement, updated on every release. Not one metric about client projects while there are no client projects.
not measured
Lighthouse, performance
Lighthouse, mobile profile · worst of the pages · to be measured on the new build
not measured
Lighthouse, accessibility
Lighthouse · all pages · to be measured on the new build
not measured
WCAG 2.2 AA violations
axe-core, all pages × 2 widths · to be measured on the new build
not measured
Home page weight on first load
Compression on · to be measured on the new build
not measured
Main heading paint (LCP)
Lighthouse, slow mobile · worst of the pages · to be measured on the new build
There were figures here, and they were removed on purpose. The earlier readings were taken on 09.08.2026 on the prototype's static build; the site has since been rebuilt on a different engine, and those numbers no longer describe it. An unmeasured number and an invented one are indistinguishable — so the rows stand empty until a run on production rather than filled with the old values.
Test the method on your own task
Write what you need. In reply you get a fixed price, a fixed date and a list of what is included and what is not. Until you agree, the work has not started.
VAT not applicable — the published price is final.