We've worked with hundreds of companies. Some arrive with a 40-page document covering every nuance of their business. Others send a WhatsApp message: "We need a website. Call me."
Both extremes create problems. The 40-page document often buries the actual requirements in corporate language. The WhatsApp message leaves everything undefined until we're already three weeks into the project. The sweet spot is a structured brief that covers the right things — and nothing more.
The 8 sections of a good brief
The business context
What does your company do? Who are your customers? What market do you operate in? This isn't your marketing copy — it's the raw context we need to make good design decisions. One paragraph is enough.
What we're looking for: business model, customer type (B2B/B2C, enterprise/SME), geographic market, company stage.
The problem you're trying to solve
Why does this project exist? "We need a new website" is not a problem — it's a solution. The problem might be: "We lose deals because prospects can't understand what we do from the homepage" or "Our mobile conversion rate is 0.4% vs 2.1% on desktop." Name the specific business problem.
The target audience
Who will use this product? Decision makers' job titles, company sizes, their level of digital literacy, their primary device. Don't say "everyone" — this is the most common mistake in briefs. The more specific you are, the better the design will fit.
Success metrics
How will you know this project succeeded? Ideally in numbers: "increase contact form submissions from 12/month to 40/month" or "reduce time-to-quote for sales team from 3 days to same day." If you don't know how to measure success, we'll help you define it — but you need to try first.
Scope and deliverables
What exactly needs to be built? List the pages or features. If you're not sure what's needed, say that — we'll help scope it during discovery. What you want to avoid is "and also…" conversations six weeks in, when the budget is spent.
Brand and visual direction
Do you have existing brand guidelines? A logo? Color palette? If yes, attach them. If no, say so explicitly. Also: share 3–5 websites or products you admire aesthetically, and briefly note what you like about each. This is the fastest way to align visual expectations without writing paragraphs about mood.
Technical requirements and integrations
CRM to integrate? Payment gateway? Existing backend? Internal tools that need to connect? Are there infrastructure preferences (hosting provider, technology stack)? This section prevents nasty surprises during development.
Timeline and budget
Be honest about both. A hard launch deadline (trade show, product launch, funding announcement) changes how we approach the project. A realistic budget lets us scope the right solution rather than over-promising and under-delivering. You won't get judged for your budget — you'll get a scope that fits it.
What a good brief is NOT
- Not a solution document. "Build us a 12-page website with these sections in this order" tells us what, not why. We need why.
- Not a request for proposal. A brief starts a conversation. It's not a legally binding spec.
- Not a history of your company. Focus on the project context, not the founding story.
- Not a list of features your competitor has. "Our competitor has X" is not a reason to build X. Start with your users' problems.
The best briefs we've received were two pages long. They were specific about the problem, honest about constraints, and left room for us to propose the right solution.
If you're about to start a project and you're not sure where to begin — just answer these 8 questions in plain language. That's a brief. Everything else is decoration.