From idea to launch. How HMOOD builds digital solutions.
Behind a finished website or digital solution lies far more than design and code. Here you get a look at how I work with planning, design, development, testing and the responsible use of artificial intelligence at HMOOD.
When you visit a website, the visual side is usually what you notice first. Colours, images, animations and how the content is put together.
What you don't see are all the decisions, changes and hours of work behind it.
I find this process one of the most interesting parts of developing digital solutions. Starting with an idea, exploring different possibilities and gradually building something that both looks good and works the way it should.
At HMOOD, I usually divide a project into four main phases: discovery, design, development and launch. The phases give the work structure, but that doesn't mean everything happens in a straight line. Sometimes you discover during development that a design should be adjusted. Other times, testing shows that a feature can be solved in a better way.
And that is completely natural.
From idea to finished website
Goals, users and needs are mapped out, and the structure is sketched before anything is designed.
The structure gets a visual direction: typography, colours, images, buttons and layout.
The design becomes a working interface, built from parts that have to work together on every screen size.
Functionality, performance, mobile adaptation and accessibility are checked before the solution is published.
01. Discovery – understanding before building
A project starts with understanding what is actually going to be made, and why.
What does the business want to achieve? Who will use the solution? Which problems should it solve?
These may seem like simple questions, but the answers have a big impact on how the project develops.
A website whose main purpose is to present services and make it easy to get in touch has different needs from a customer portal where users log in and manage information.
That is why the discovery phase is not only about gathering wishes and ideas, but also about assessing what makes sense to build.
The goal is to establish a clear foundation before the design and development work begins.
02. Design – from idea to visual direction
Once the goals and needs have been mapped out, the visual design begins.
Here I work with structure, typography, colour, layout and user experience. I like exploring different styles, and especially how animations and interactive elements can make a website more interesting.
At the same time, the design has to serve a purpose.
An animation can look impressive, but if it makes the website harder to use or hurts performance, it is not necessarily a good choice.
In this phase I also use artificial intelligence as a tool. Models such as Sol, Astra and Opus can contribute ideas, alternative design suggestions and technical perspectives.
That makes it possible to explore more directions in less time.
But a suggestion from an AI model is still just a suggestion. I assess whether it suits the project, how it works on different screen sizes, and whether it actually improves the user experience.
The final design should not only be visually appealing. It should also be well thought out and usable.
03. Development – when the design becomes functional
Once the design direction has been approved, the work of turning it into a working solution begins.
That involves building the interface, implementing features and making sure the different parts work together.
Depending on the project, this can be anything from a relatively simple website to more extensive software with several features and technical systems.
AI can be useful here too.
Among other things, I use AI models for programming help, technical suggestions and debugging. It can make it easier to examine alternative solutions and identify problems.
But AI-generated code is not automatically good code.
A suggestion can work in one scenario but cause problems in another. It can contain unnecessary complexity, be hard to maintain or overlook important details.
That is why the code has to be reviewed, adapted and tested.
For me, development is not only about getting something to work. It is also about understanding how it works, and how the solution can be maintained and developed further.
Testing and bug fixing – the work that often goes unseen
This is perhaps the part of the development process I think it is most important to be open about.
A solution can look finished long before it is actually ready to use.
It is not unusual for me to spend considerable time examining small details, adjusting animations, fixing bugs and testing the different ways a feature can behave.
How does the website work on a mobile phone? What happens if a user presses the same button several times? Does the navigation work with a keyboard? What happens if a request fails?
Questions like these matter.
Nor is testing only about finding bugs. It is about examining whether the solution actually delivers the user experience it is meant to deliver.
That is why I test and improve along the way during development, not just at the very end.
A change can also affect other parts of the system. When something is fixed or improved, you therefore have to check that other features still work as expected.
This work takes time, but it is an important part of quality assurance.
How I use AI without sharing customer information
Artificial intelligence has found a natural place in my development work. At the same time, I think it is important to be clear about which boundaries apply.
When I use cloud-based AI services such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, they must not receive real information about the customers or businesses I work with.
This includes company names, personal names, images, contact details, internal documents and other information that belongs to, or can be linked to, the customer.
Work with such models is therefore done with fictional content, generic examples and test data.
Only when the work with the cloud-based AI models in the project is finished do I add real customer information to the solution.
If AI support is needed when working with this information, I can instead use locally running models in a private and isolated environment, without the information being sent to external AI services.
This separation is deliberate.
I believe it is entirely possible to benefit from modern AI tools without giving them access to customers' information.
Technology should help improve the work process, not reduce control over the information being processed.
04. Launch – when the solution meets reality
As development nears its end, the final checks and improvements are carried out.
Among other things, this means checking functionality, performance, mobile adaptation, accessibility and relevant security aspects.
The real content must also be in place and checked in the finished solution.
The goal is for what is launched to be thoroughly worked through, and for any known bugs to be dealt with before publication.
But a launch does not necessarily mean the work is over.
Needs can change. Technology evolves. New features can become relevant, and existing solutions can be improved.
That is why it is also important to think about how a project can be maintained going forward.
A good solution is the result of many decisions
I find the developments in artificial intelligence incredibly exciting, and I believe such tools will play an ever greater role in how digital solutions are built.
At the same time, working on HMOOD has taught me how important it is to spend time on the details.
It is easy to be impressed by how quickly technology can generate a design or produce code.
But it is often when you start testing, adjusting and improving the result that you discover what actually works.
For me, it is precisely the combination of creativity, technology, thorough testing and responsible choices that makes development work interesting.
A digital solution is not good just because it looks finished.
It has to work for the people who will use it.