Web design
What a good website brief includes (and what to leave out)
Most rebuilds go wrong before a single pixel is drawn. A short, honest brief prevents the rework that follows.
Mohd Aibad · · 4 min read
A brief is not a wishlist. It is the set of decisions that stop a project from being rebuilt halfway through. The best ones are short and specific.
Include these
- The one action a visitor should take, in a single sentence.
- Who the site is for, and who it is explicitly not for.
- Two or three sites you like, with a note on what you like about each.
- Constraints: budget, deadline, tools you must keep, and anything legal.
- Who approves the work, and how many people need to sign off.
Leave these out
Skip prescribing layouts and colours before the goal is clear. Describe the problem, then let the design answer it. Prescribing the solution early closes off better options.
Get the scope in writing
Whatever you agree, write down what is being built, when it lands, and what it costs. Ambiguity at this stage is the most expensive thing in the project.