"We surveyed the entire company for desired features, incorporated all of them, and revamped the site. Yet, it's hardly being used at all"—this is a common story we hear from business leaders who switch production agencies to consult with us. Requirements were thoroughly gathered. Every requested feature was implemented. Still, results did not materialize. This reveals a classic trap where renewals fall flat: what people say they want and what they actually do frequently diverge.
Four Levels Of Customer Understanding in Smashing Magazine presents a framework for unpacking this discrepancy. What people say, feel, think, and do are distinct; effective design is impossible without digging beneath superficial requests to understand underlying motivations and root causes. We believe that pre-ordering discovery interviews are the single most influential stage in determining a website project's success.
Why building exactly as told misses the mark
Implementing requests gathered from users or internal stakeholders exactly as stated often misses the mark because those requests usually reflect only the topmost layer of the following four levels:
| Level | What is observable | How to collect |
|---|---|---|
| What people say | Stated requests, official positions | Surveys, interviews |
| What people feel | Emotions such as frustration, anxiety, and expectations | Interviews, customer support inquiries |
| What people think | Decision criteria, alternatives being compared | In-depth probing questions, feedback from sales teams |
| Scope | Actual behaviors, drop-offs, navigation patterns | Web analytics, heatmaps |
Relying solely on what people say produces a feature list inflated by internal politics and stated pretenses. Meanwhile, checking what people do through web analytics frequently reveals that users bypass the requested multi-feature pages entirely, focusing heavily on a tiny subset of conversion paths. Only by moving across all four levels can the gap between stated requests and actual needs be bridged.
Cross-referencing what people do with what they say
In a renewal for an actual service-industry client (company name withheld), the internal wishlist was filled with items like "enhancing recruiting information" and "classifying case studies in detail." However, traffic analysis of the existing site showed that most incoming traffic concentrated on the pricing page of a single specific service, with minimal time spent on the recruitment pages. What they said (wanting to strengthen recruitment) and what users did (visiting primarily to check pricing) were polar opposites.
What we did was set those requests aside temporarily and reposition the pricing and contact paths as the primary focus. Without discarding recruitment information, we simply lowered its priority and kept it concise. As a result, the inquiry completion rate improved. We did not abandon the requests, but rather reordered priorities through the lens of the four levels. This upstream perspective aligns closely with Defining Requirements Without Failure Using Spec, Context, and Harness (GH Media), which covers requirements definition in the AI era.
A four-level checklist for both clients and creators
This framework also serves as a yardstick for clients evaluating web development agencies. When receiving a proposal, check the following points:
- Is the proposal's rationale based solely on what people say (internal requests, vague trends)?
- Is the proposal formulated after reviewing what people do on the existing site (web analytics, drop-off points)?
- Does it address what users feel and think (anxieties, competing options under consideration)?
- Alongside suggestions to add features, does it offer recommendations to cut or deprioritize features?
Rather than an agency that promises "we will build everything exactly as told," a partner who tells you "looking at this data, we should postpone this request" will ultimately bring you closer to real results. How to select a production agency is detailed in How to Choose a Web Production Company Without Making Mistakes (GH Media). For managing an entire website renewal, also refer to Corporate Website Renewal Guide (GH Media).
Start by observing what people do on your existing site
Before finalizing requirements for a new website, look at what users are actually doing on your current site. Top pages in your web analytics and high drop-off points reveal honest user intentions that never show up in surveys. In our client web development work, we help visualize this gap between saying and doing using analytics data, translating raw feature wishlists into prioritized designs.
