# The New Era of Web Design Has Just Begun ![[images/New-Era-of-Web-Design.webp]] **Creator:** Jennie Lakenan (@jennielakenanofficial) · **Published:** 2026-11-03 · **Length:** 15:06 · [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc) > Caption source: YouTube's auto-generated English captions (en-orig), fetched with yt-dlp (android_vr client) on the first try. The captions have some errors, which are corrected in this note: "Jen Lake" is **Jennie Lakenan**; "Caitlin"/"Caitlyn" is spelled **Kaitlyn** on her on-screen BrandScript; "Karen Somerville" is **Karen Summerville** (as shown on her homepage); "story brand" is **StoryBrand**. Timestamps come from the chapter list and the captions. The video was added from the user's "Summarize" playlist. ## Outline ### The new era of web design (0:00 to 0:58) - [0:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=0s) Most designers and clients are still "paying for the look": sites that look great but don't bring calls or sales, now just made faster with AI. Her thesis: AI didn't change everything, it sped up something already happening. Web design has reset three times, and the fourth reset has little to do with how a site is built, or with AI. ![[images/New-Era-of-Web-Design-t0035.webp]] *The four resets: WordPress, Wix, AI (a Claude-style logo) and a question mark* - [0:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=40s) She introduces herself: she has built over 160 websites and keeps over 100 of them running today. ### The three resets so far (0:59 to 3:42) - [0:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=59s) Originally every site was hand-coded by a developer, and the coding and design were what you paid for. - [1:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=77s) **Reset 1: templates.** WordPress themes cut a decent layout from thousands of dollars to a few hundred. She tried themes when she started about eight years ago but disliked forcing copy to fit a theme's sections. ![[images/New-Era-of-Web-Design-t0085.webp]] *The WordPress themes directory, reset 1* - [1:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=109s) **Reset 2: page builders** such as Squarespace and Wix. You no longer needed to be a developer; drag your content into a layout and have a decent site by the end of the day. - [2:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=139s) She moved to a WordPress page builder and felt like an impostor, until she inherited custom-coded sites that were much harder to update. Many were rebuilt on page builders. For a small business, the old way had become the worst way. - [2:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=173s) Those two resets **templatized design**, but designers could still stand out with custom work: animations and scrolling effects that templates couldn't do well. - [3:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=197s) **Reset 3: AI.** "Everyone lost their minds." Tools like Claude can build a site with all of those effects from a one-sentence description in a couple of minutes. It is the same templatization, now reaching the last part that was still custom. ![[images/New-Era-of-Web-Design-t0212.webp]] *An AI prompt, "Build me a status page that looks amazing", and the generated page* ### What AI killed (3:43 to 5:21) - [3:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=230s) An impressive website used to be a **signal**: the business cared and had money to invest. Each reset turned the signal into the new baseline (templates, then custom looks, now heavy animation and motion). - [4:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=250s) Without real design experience, AI produces generic sites that seasoned designers, and increasingly laypeople, can tell are AI-made. Making an AI site that looks unique takes a lot of design experience, "which kind of defeats the purpose". - [4:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=282s) The big animated site now sits next to 100 others generated in minutes. Visitors sense they've seen it before, and it makes them feel nothing. ![[images/New-Era-of-Web-Design-t0285.webp]] *A wall of near-identical generated sites* - [5:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=305s) A website's job was never to look cool or impressive: "first and foremost, it's to sell your product... your service. That's it." ### The fourth reset (5:22 to 7:04) - [5:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=326s) Designers are panicking and adding more motion; business owners think "I don't need a web designer anymore" and can build it in an afternoon. Both forget what the site is for. - [5:51](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=351s) What a website was always doing: making a stranger feel trust, relief, "Oh, she gets it" within seconds of landing. That comes from the story the page tells, not how it looks. - [6:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=367s) Some of the best-converting sites are basic, even boring at first glance. In her experience flashy sites didn't necessarily convert best. Now that AI has made flashy free, what's left is the part that did the work all along. - [6:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=403s) **The fourth reset:** the words and their structure, which make the visitor the hero, plus the few design choices that only make sense for that business and give the site a "DNA". Everything else is scaffolding that holds the story up. ### A client's website, before and after (7:05 to 11:04) - [7:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=434s) Client Kaitlyn makes hand-embroidered wedding veils in Arizona. She has been featured in the New York Times and has shipped over 12,000 orders to 23 countries. - [7:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=453s) The old headline, pulled from the Wayback Machine: "Crafting bespoke bridal veils and coordinating accessories, designed exclusively for your special day." Nothing wrong with it, but any veil shop could use it and it makes you feel nothing. ![[images/New-Era-of-Web-Design-t0440.webp]] *The old homepage headline* - [7:57](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=477s) Kaitlyn had already started applying StoryBrand herself that year; she came to them to tighten the copy and get a design brides would be "obsessed" with. - [8:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=490s) StoryBrand, which Lakenan is certified in, is a messaging framework where the customer is the hero and the business is the guide. The first question: who is the hero? Here, a bride who can't find a veil that matches her wedding theme, doesn't want to look "basic" or blend in on social media, but worries a statement veil is too much. ![[images/New-Era-of-Web-Design-t0535.webp]] *Kaitlyn's BrandScript: the problem, split into external, internal and philosophical* - [8:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=535s) They read hundreds of testimonials and found brides kept saying **"obsessed"**, a word Kaitlyn had drifted away from. - [9:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=558s) Every story needs a villain. Rather than cast traditional veil makers as villains (and annoy brides who like them), the villain became the word **"basic"**. - [9:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=573s) The new homepage: "Get the veil you can't wait to wear", veils handmade in Arizona to match your colors and theme, the New York Times *logo* rather than its name (people recognize a logo before reading it), the 12,000-orders figure, and "Basic doesn't belong on your big day." ![[images/New-Era-of-Web-Design-t0585.webp]] *The new homepage: headline, 12,000+ orders, 200+ five-star reviews and the NYT logo* - [10:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=606s) The designer's job now: find the story, write it clearly, build the scaffolding that holds it up. Anything that doesn't support the story doesn't belong. - [10:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=616s) The testimonials page is organized by the questions brides ask ("Will it match my wedding?"), each answered by real brides, with photos linking straight to the product. Kaitlyn gasped and was already using "obsessed" on social media before launch. ![[images/New-Era-of-Web-Design-t0635.webp]] *Testimonials grouped under "Will it match my wedding?"* - [10:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=653s) It's e-commerce, but storytelling works for coaches and service providers too. ### The design choice AI won't make (11:05 to 12:27) - [11:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=665s) Design is the second half of the site's DNA. On Kaitlyn's site its job is to get out of the way: product photos lead, copy stays short. - [11:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=689s) Sometimes design must say what words can't. For a clarinet shop (Rodriguez, on screen) the background texture is the instrument's wood grain and image frames are rounded like a clarinet's key holes. Few notice consciously, but the site feels intentional. ![[images/New-Era-of-Web-Design-t0685.webp]] *The clarinet shop's homepage* - [12:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=721s) This kind of symbolism is what AI is bad at, "at least not right now": it's great at code and at average, generic things, but doesn't get nuance or stand out without a human idea. - [12:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=733s) A thoughtful site makes people assume the business is run thoughtfully; when it looks like "AI slop", they wonder what else is slop. ### What I'd do building a website today (12:28 to 14:40) - [12:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=748s) **First, messaging, before any design.** It forces clarity. You only need to be about 60% sure who you serve; the process pulls out the other 40%. Clients have compared it to giving birth, but it's the part no template can give you. - [13:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=783s) Plug for her free video training on writing StoryBrand copy for every page (linked in the description). - [13:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=793s) **Then the design answers two questions:** what is the site selling, and who is it for? Sometimes the design's job is to step back (Kaitlyn's veils; a visual service such as speaking on stage). - [13:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=821s) Sometimes its job is to make a concept stick. Karen Summerville, a speaker for parents anxious about their kids' futures, has IP built around a child's "constellation of gifts", so her site uses stars that echo her book cover: cohesive, not "matchy-matchy". ![[images/New-Era-of-Web-Design-t0830.webp]] *Karen Summerville's new homepage, with star accents* - [14:09](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=849s) Karen might once have gone "full whimsical" (rounded fonts and edges). They mocked it up, but her audience are professionals as well as parents, so the site needed enough structure to feel credible. ### What's left after the reset (14:41 to end) - [14:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=881s) What's left is what was never the template: the story, and a handful of design choices that fit your business's DNA. Closing plug for working with her; every project starts with the story. ## Key takeaways - Each reset (templates, page builders, AI) made a good-looking site cheaper, so looks stopped signalling quality. AI finished the job. - A website's job is to sell. Story (the visitor as hero, a clear problem, a villain) does that work; design is scaffolding. - Mine customers' own words (testimonials) for the language of the copy, as with "obsessed". - Use a few deliberate, business-specific design touches (wood grain, key-hole frames, stars) that AI won't think of unprompted. - Order of work: messaging first, then design decided by what you sell and who it's for. ## Applying it: her website process This is not a tool tutorial (Claude is mentioned only as an example of AI site builders), but the video lays out a repeatable process: 1. **Clarify the hero.** Write down who the customer is and what they want, even if you're only about 60% sure ([12:39](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=759s)). 2. **Define the problem** at three levels, as in the on-screen BrandScript: external (can't find a veil that fits the theme), internal (fear of blending in) and philosophical (a bride deserves a veil that feels like her). 3. **Mine your customers' words.** Read testimonials and reviews for words people repeat unprompted ([8:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=535s)). 4. **Name a villain** that doesn't insult competitors or customers, such as an idea ("basic") rather than a group ([9:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=558s)). 5. **Write the headline** around what the customer gets and feels, and use recognizable proof (logos, order counts, review counts). 6. **Structure supporting pages around customer questions**, such as testimonials grouped by question ([10:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=616s)). 7. **Decide the design's job:** get out of the way (visual products) or make a concept stick (a speaker's IP), and add one or two symbolic, business-specific touches. 8. If you generate the site with AI, give it the story and the symbolic ideas yourself; by her account AI won't come up with them. ## Claims check | Claim | Verdict | Notes / source | | --- | --- | --- | | She has built over 160 websites and maintains over 100 ([0:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=40s)) | Her own claim; consistent | Her description and site say she has built over 160 websites for coaches and experts. Not independently verifiable. | | She is StoryBrand certified ([8:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=493s)) | Accurate | Her LinkedIn lists the StoryBrand Certified Guide credential (issued July 2024). | | Templates (WordPress themes) came first, then page builders (Squarespace, Wix), then AI | Simplified | A fair broad sequence, but the eras overlap: WordPress themes date from the mid-2000s, Squarespace launched in 2004 and Wix in 2006, so page builders and themes grew up side by side. | | WordPress themes cut a decent layout from thousands of dollars to a few hundred ([1:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=81s)) | Broadly accurate | Premium themes typically sell for tens of dollars (ThemeForest, from 2008), and custom builds cost thousands. Her "few hundred" probably includes setup. | | Tools like Claude can build a site with animations from a one-sentence description in minutes ([3:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=202s)) | Broadly accurate | Claude (Artifacts, Claude Code) and similar tools generate working, styled front-end pages from short prompts. Production hosting, CMS editing and polish still take more work. | | Generic AI-generated sites are recognizable even to laypeople | Opinion | Plausible, and widely said in design circles, but not a measured claim. | | Some of the best-converting sites are plain, and flashy sites didn't necessarily convert best | Her experience; plausible | Matches common conversion-optimization advice (clarity over decoration), but no data is given. | | The veil client has been featured in the New York Times and shipped 12,000+ orders to 23 countries ([7:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=434s)) | Unverified | Shown on her new homepage ("12,000+ orders", "As seen in The New York Times"). The shop appears to be Belle Botanical Creations (Kaitlyn, Surprise, Arizona; founded 2021), but the video doesn't name it and the NYT feature wasn't found in this check ([About](https://bellebotanicalcreations.com/pages/about-us)). | | The old headline came from the Wayback Machine ([7:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=453s)) | Not checked | Shown on screen. | | People recognize a logo before they've read it ([9:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=585s)) | Broadly accurate | Familiar logos are processed as images faster than reading a name; this is a standard design rule of thumb. | | AI is bad at nuance and symbolic design choices "at least not right now" ([12:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=721s)) | Opinion | A judgment about current tools, hedged by her. | | Karen Summerville's site stars echo her book cover and her "constellation of gifts" concept ([13:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=821s)) | Accurate | Her framework is The Parent GPS, and her book is *Your Child's Constellation of Gifts* (She Writes Press, listed for July 2027) ([karensummerville.com](https://karensummerville.com/); [Simon & Schuster](https://www.simonandschuster.biz/books/Your-Childs-Constellation-of-Gifts/Karen-Summerville/9798896365747)). | ## Things mentioned ### Books and texts - No book is named on air. Two are referred to indirectly: - Karen Summerville's book, whose cover her site's stars echo ([13:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=821s)). Identified for this note as *Your Child's Constellation of Gifts: Helping Children Navigate by Their Own Stars* by Karen Summerville (She Writes Press, listed for July 2027). - The StoryBrand framework ([8:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=490s)) comes from Donald Miller's *Building a StoryBrand* (2017). The book is not mentioned in the video. ### Products, tools and organizations - WordPress and WordPress themes, WordPress page builders, Squarespace, Wix - Claude (as an AI site builder) - The Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) - StoryBrand and the StoryBrand BrandScript - The New York Times (as press proof) - Clients: a wedding-veil maker in Arizona (Kaitlyn), a clarinet shop (Rodriguez, selling Buffet Crampon and Backun clarinets, on screen), Karen Summerville (The Parent GPS) - Her free StoryBrand copy training ("Website Blueprint") and her web-design service ### Concepts - The templatization of design, design as a signal, AI slop, story-first web design, the customer as hero and the business as guide, villain, site "DNA", design as scaffolding ## Biographies ### Jennie Lakenan A web designer for coaches and experts and a StoryBrand Certified Guide. Her channel description says she has built over 160 websites and helps clients clarify their copy and build sites that turn visitors into client conversations. She says she started in web design about eight years ago (around 2018). Her site is [jennielakenan.com](https://jennielakenan.com/). ### Karen Summerville A Seattle-based speaker and author, and a former career counselor and litigation partner. She created The Parent GPS framework for helping parents discover a child's "constellation of gifts" and wrote *Your Child's Constellation of Gifts* ([karensummerville.com](https://karensummerville.com/)). ### Kaitlyn (veil client) A seamstress who makes hand-embroidered floral wedding veils in Arizona. The video gives only her first name; the business appears to be Belle Botanical Creations in Surprise, Arizona, which was founded in 2021.