Show a client a real, clickable draft site before anything is agreed
A flat mockup asks a client to imagine how a site will feel. A working draft answers that directly: they scroll it on their own phone, tap the menu and read real headings. For pitches and early concepts, a clickable draft built in an afternoon often settles questions a week of static frames would leave open.
Static mockup or clickable draft?
Both have a place. A static frame in a design tool is good for exploring a single screen in detail, pixel by pixel. It's weak at the things clients actually react to once a site is live: how long the page is on a phone, whether the menu makes sense, whether the type is readable at arm's length.
| Question | Static mockup | Clickable draft |
|---|---|---|
| Is the overall direction right? | Good | Good |
| How does it read on my phone? | Guesswork | Open the link and see |
| Do the pages connect sensibly? | Needs a separate prototype | Click through them |
| Exact spacing on one component | Precise | Close, then refined |
| Can I reuse it for the build? | Rebuilt from scratch | Becomes the build |
Making the draft with Anticode
As a website mockup generator, Anticode starts from what you know after the first call: "a site for Northgate Physio, a two-room clinic, with services, prices, the team and online booking requests; they want it to feel calm and clinical, not spa-like". If the client sent their current site or a page they admire, include the link; links are read once and summarised into the brief.
The Architect replies with a plan (name, kind of site, sections, look, features) and asks up to three questions where the answer changes the build. That plan is useful in its own right: send it to the client as a written outline before anything is built, so you're agreeing on structure rather than colour.
Showing two directions
Clients choose more easily between two concrete options than among five. Build the same brief twice in two of the seven design systems, for example Swiss (Inter Tight) for a clinical grid and Organic (Figtree) for something warmer. Because each build is held to its design system's type, colour and radius rules, the two read as deliberately different rather than as random variations.
Sharing it with a review link
A client review link opens the current preview for someone with no Anticode account. It's made for exactly this stage:
- Comments are tied to a section. The client can say "this paragraph is too long" on the paragraph itself rather than in a vague email.
- It expires. Links expire after 14 days by default, which suits a pitch that shouldn't stay open indefinitely.
- You can revoke it. If the pitch goes elsewhere, switch the link off.
- It's the real thing. The client sees the draft on their own devices, at their own screen size.
Revising version by version
Saves are kept in version history (the most recent ones, up to a number set by your plan), and any of them can be previewed and restored. That matters in a pitch more than in most builds, because clients often change their minds back. Keep a short note of which version you showed on which date, so "the one from Tuesday" can be found again.
- Send the first draft with a review link and a short note on what kind of feedback you want (structure, not wording).
- Turn the section comments into change requests in a sentence: "move the team above prices and cut the hero text to one line".
- Send a fresh link for the next round and say what changed.
- When the direction is agreed, keep building in the same project; the draft becomes the site.
The website revision rounds workflow suggests how to cap rounds so a pitch doesn't turn into unpaid work.
What a draft won't show
- It isn't a pixel-perfect design file. There's no Figma export or import. If the client expects layered design files, you'll still need a design tool.
- Real content is still missing. A draft with written-by-model copy and library photos can mislead a client about how the finished site will read. Label what's provisional.
- Forms and bookings in a draft are live once published. Keep pitches in preview and share them by review link, rather than publishing to a public address.
- Model-written builds need an account. Preview builds of design-engine pages don't, but saving drafts and sharing review links happen in your account.
Questions people ask
Can the client edit the draft themselves?
Through a review link, the client comments; they don't edit. If they'll be editing later, invite them into a Team workspace as a member.
How many concepts should I show?
Two is usually enough to show you've thought about direction without asking the client to do your job. Three at most.
Can I start from a template instead?
Yes. The template gallery has twelve sites and apps; using one copies it into your project with no model call. It's a quick way to show a visual direction, though a brief-specific draft is more persuasive.