A good brief fits on one page. Six things in it decide whether the plan and the quote you get back are accurate.
A brief is not a technical specification. Its job is to let a studio understand the task well enough to answer with a plan, a timeline and a price. The more precise the brief, the fewer surprises later.
What to include
- The goal in one sentence. What should a visitor do on the site — book a demo, leave a request, buy? One main action, not five.
- Who the site is for. Role, company size, what they already know about you. “Everyone” is not an audience.
- What already exists. Current site, brand guidelines, copy, photos, product screenshots. Say plainly what is missing.
- Pages and scope. A list of pages or sections you expect. A rough one is fine — the studio will refine it.
- References. Three to five sites you like, with one line each on what exactly you like: structure, type, motion, tone.
- Constraints. Deadline and its reason, budget range, platform if it is already chosen, people who approve the work.
What makes a brief weak
- “Modern and clean” instead of references. Those words mean something different to every reader.
- No budget range. The studio then guesses the scope, and you compare quotes for different amounts of work.
- A long feature list without priorities. Mark what is required for launch and what can wait.
- Several decision makers who are not named. Feedback from an unexpected person late in the project is the most common cause of delays.
A short template
- Company and product — two sentences.
- Goal of the site — one action we want from a visitor.
- Audience — who they are and what they doubt.
- Pages — list.
- What we have — brand, copy, visuals, current site link.
- References — links with comments.
- Deadline, budget range, who approves.
If you do not have copy yet, say so. It changes the plan: structure and wireframes come first, and the text is written for them — not the other way round.
What you should get back
A reply to a good brief is a plan: what will be done, in what order, when you see the first result, and a fixed price for that scope. With us that reply comes within one business day, and work starts with the first screen, so you see the direction before the whole page is designed. Our steps are described in the process section.
The form at the bottom of this page asks for the same things in short form — it takes about two minutes.
