Design Assignment: Consulting Website for Dieter Szegedi
Purpose of this Assignment
This assignment is not about redesigning an existing website.
It is about designing a second, independent public website for the same person.
The goal is to create a consulting website that enables the right people to understand what kind of professional Dieter Szegedi is, what kinds of situations he helps with, how he works, and how a collaboration can begin.
The new website must not replace or simplify the existing website.
Instead, it must complement it.
Background
Existing Website
The existing website already fulfills an important purpose.
It documents how Dieter Szegedi thinks.
Its primary purpose is:
- professional identity
- intellectual transparency
- long-term orientation
- public documentation of thinking
It is intentionally selective.
It contains no marketing funnel, testimonials, customer acquisition mechanisms or conventional consulting language.
This is intentional and should remain so.
The Design Challenge
The existing website answers the question:
Who is this person professionally?
The new website must answer a different question:
Why should someone work with this person?
These are fundamentally different communication problems.
The new website should therefore not attempt to repeat the content of szegedi.info.
Instead, it should translate the thinking documented there into professional consulting practice.
The task is therefore one of translation, not simplification.
Core Design Objective
Design a consulting website that allows visitors to move naturally from
“I understand how this person thinks.”
to
“I can imagine working with this person.”
without changing the underlying professional identity.
Relationship Between Both Websites
The relationship between both websites is intentional.
szegedi.info
Purpose:
- professional identity
- thinking
- public work
- long-form essays
- conceptual foundations
Primary question:
Why does this person think the way he does?
Consulting Website
Purpose:
- collaboration
- consulting
- practical application
- starting conversations
- professional engagement
Primary question:
How could this person help me?
Neither website should attempt to replace the other.
They have different responsibilities.
Design Principles
The consulting website must remain fully consistent with the identity presented on szegedi.info.
However, it should be considerably easier to understand for someone arriving with a practical business problem.
The objective is not to become more commercial.
The objective is to become more accessible.
Important Observation
An external analysis of szegedi.info produced an important insight.
The analysis did not conclude that the website lacked credibility.
Instead, it identified a gap between
- professional identity
and
- observable consulting practice.
The visitor understands how Dieter thinks.
The visitor does not yet easily understand how this thinking becomes professional work.
Closing this gap is the purpose of the new website.
Design Goals
The website should answer five questions as quickly as possible.
1. When should someone contact Dieter?
2. What kinds of situations is he particularly good at?
3. How does he work?
4. What can clients realistically expect?
5. How can a first conversation begin?
Everything else is secondary.
Professional Positioning
Do not describe abstract personality traits.
Avoid statements such as
- thoughtful
- visionary
- experienced
- authentic
- strategic
- passionate
unless they become visible through professional work.
Instead, make professional behaviour observable.
For example:
Instead of
Dieter values orientation.
show
Before discussing solutions, he establishes a shared understanding of the actual problem.
Instead of
He thinks systemically.
show
He identifies hidden assumptions, conflicting models and decision boundaries before proposing actions.
The website should demonstrate the professional approach rather than merely describing it.
Evidence Instead of Claims
Every important statement should be supported by one of the following:
- observable ways of working
- documented public work
- concrete examples
- clearly described consulting situations
Avoid unsupported self-descriptions.
Avoid Conventional Consulting Language
Avoid typical consulting website patterns.
Do not use
- generic value propositions
- marketing clichés
- exaggerated claims
- buzzword-heavy leadership language
- artificial urgency
- sales funnels
- fear-based messaging
- “trusted advisor” clichés
- empty differentiation claims
The goal is not to imitate consulting websites.
The goal is to create one that naturally follows from the existing professional identity.
Visitor Experience
A visitor should gradually experience three transitions.
First
“I understand what kind of problems this person works on.”
Second
“I understand how this person approaches them.”
Third
“I can imagine discussing one of my own situations with him.”
Relationship to szegedi.info
The consulting website should actively reference szegedi.info where appropriate.
However, the visitor should never be required to study the entire site before deciding whether to initiate contact.
The consulting website must stand on its own.
The deeper intellectual foundation remains available through szegedi.info.
Responsibility of the Designer
Your responsibility is not merely to write website text.
Your responsibility is to design the complete public communication architecture.
This includes:
- information architecture
- navigation
- visitor journey
- page hierarchy
- calls to action
- content distribution
- interaction between both websites
- overall communication strategy
Challenge initial assumptions whenever you believe a better solution exists.
Explain your reasoning.
Project Structure
The project consists of two phases.
Phase 1 — Website Strategy
Your first responsibility is to design the website before writing it.
Deliver:
- communication strategy
- target visitor analysis
- relationship to szegedi.info
- information architecture
- visitor journey
- page hierarchy
- navigation concept
- rationale for all major design decisions
No website copy should be written during this phase except where necessary to illustrate a concept.
The objective is a reviewed and approved design.
Phase 2 — Website Implementation
After approval of the strategy, produce the complete consulting website.
This includes every page, every navigation element and every piece of website copy required for publication.
The implementation should be internally consistent and publication-ready.
Success Criterion
The project succeeds if an independent visitor reaches the following conclusion:
“I understand how this person thinks.”
followed naturally by
“I understand how this person works.”
and finally
“I would like to have a conversation with him about my own situation.”
without feeling that the website tried to persuade them through conventional marketing techniques.
Final Principle
Do not design a website that sells consulting.
Design a website that makes a collaboration with Dieter Szegedi understandable, credible and easy to begin.
The objective is not persuasion.
The objective is orientation that naturally leads to conversation.