How to Write a Good Web Design Brief.

Why write a brief?

Writing a design brief can sometimes feel daunting – one of those tasks you know is important but keep putting off, sometimes because it can be hard to know exactly where to start.

Writing a comprehensive design brief has many advantages and in some cases it is essential. A design brief should enable an agency to fully understand the scope of a project, required functionality, history, audience, goals and so on. Essentially all the important facets of your project. From your brief, a design company should be able to respond with intelligent solutions and a detailed, accurate quote.

A design brief is not just for large-scale and complicated projects. Smaller projects can benefit from well written briefs as well. The more information and understanding an agency has about the scope of the project, the more likely they are to come up with suitable solutions.

Some pitfalls of a brief

A design brief does not need to supply a web design agency with all the solutions; this is a trend we often see in briefs. It is perfectly fine not to have all the answers – that is partly why you are commissioning a design agency. As tempting as it might be to supply both the problem and a solution in your initial brief, you will find this can restrict the creative process.

Example of a good brief

Not every design brief will be the same and the following points are aimed as a guide. This list can be added to, amended or changed to fit your requirements but hopefully it provides a handy way to get started.

Introduction

It is useful to provide some background about your company. This might include:

• The products you sell or the services you provide.

• A brief history of your company.

• A brief description of your company or brand. One way you could do this is to describe your company in 5–10 words (for example: vibrant, young, vintage, technology-based).

• What are the unique selling points of your company, your products or your services?

• List a few competitor websites.

Your old or existing website

Consider including the following:

• Website URL.

• What is good or poor about your current website.

• What is driving the redesign or rebuild of your website?

• How long ago was it built and who built it? (Internal team, website builder, agency etc.)

• Who is responsible for updating the site? How is it currently managed?

• If applicable, what software or CMS is currently used to manage the website.

The new website

We will need to know as much as possible about your requirements for the new site. Include anything that you think might be useful or important. Some pointers might help:

• Outline the aims and goals of your website (for example, increase traffic, increase product awareness, generate more sales).

• Is the new website part of a rebrand or a new product launch?

• Are there any websites you currently like or are influenced by? Give reasons why. (These sites do not have to be related to your industry.)

• Is there any specific functionality the site needs to perform? If so, explain in as much detail as possible.

• Are you selling products or services directly on your site? If so, give details.

• Do you have any brand guidelines or promotional material that the new website design needs to comply with?

• Who will be responsible for generating content for the new site (text, images, video etc.)?

• Are you generating new content for the new website?

• Do you currently own the domain name(s)? Do you have access to managing them?

• What is your current hosting situation?

• Who will be editing and maintaining the site on a daily basis? Do you require ongoing site management or support?

• Do you have any specific editing requirements (editing groups with different permissions, teams or editors etc.)?

• Are there any specific technical requirements you are aware of?

Budget

• What is the budget for the design and development of your site?

• Do you have a budget for ongoing support and maintenance?

There it is. Hopefully you will find this guide helpful when writing a brief for your own project.