What a design brief is for
A design brief is the short document that tells a designer what you need, why, for whom, by when and for how much. Done well, it does three jobs: it gets you accurate quotes, because every designer prices the same scope; it aligns your own team before money is spent; and it gives everyone a yardstick for feedback later. “Does this help wholesale cafés book a tasting?” is a far better review question than “Do we like it?”
Most projects that go over budget or through endless revisions didn't start with a bad designer. They started with a vague brief.
The eight sections of a good brief
| Section | What to include |
|---|
| Overview | Company, project type and one sentence on what you're making and why now |
| Goals & metrics | Two to four business goals, each paired with a number you can track |
| Audience | Who they are, how they decide, and what gets in their way today |
| Scope | Pages, screens or deliverables, plus must-have features and integrations |
| Brand & style | Adjectives, reference sites and specific likes and dislikes |
| Content & assets | Whether copy, logo files, photography and brand guidelines are ready |
| Budget & timeline | A budget range and a launch date, with the reason if it's fixed |
| Stakeholders | Who gives feedback, who signs off, and the day-to-day contact |
Write goals a designer can design for
“A modern, clean website” is a style preference, not a goal. A goal describes a change in behaviour or business results, so the designer can make trade-offs towards it. Compare:
- Vague: refresh the site so it looks more professional.
- Useful: get more enterprise demo requests; today most visitors leave the pricing page without acting. Measured by demo requests per month.
The second version tells the designer where to focus (pricing, trust, the demo flow) and gives you an honest way to judge the result after launch. If you're not sure what to track, start with your conversion rate on the one action that matters most.
Scope decides the price
Of everything in a brief, scope moves the quote the most. Listing the pages or screens, the features you can't launch without, and any integrations (CRM, booking, payments) lets a designer price accurately. Be honest about content too: copy that isn't written yet is the single most common reason websites launch late. Not sure which platform the scope points to? Run it through the platform picker, and for a product, the MVP timeline estimator.
References beat adjectives
“Bold” means different things to different people. Two or three reference sites, with a line on what you like about each (“the big product photography”, “how clear the pricing table is”), say more than a page of adjectives. Say what to avoid as well; dislikes narrow the direction faster than likes. If you have a style guide or existing brand identity, mention it, even if it's informal.
Who should write it
One person should own the brief, usually whoever owns the outcome, but they should gather input before writing. A twenty-minute conversation with sales or support about what customers ask, and a look at your analytics, will make the goals and audience sections far sharper than anything written alone. Then share the draft with the person who signs off, before it goes to any designer, so the brief you send is the one you'll judge the work against.
Common brief mistakes
- Describing the solution instead of the problem.“We need a chatbot” closes doors that “customers can't find answers on mobile” leaves open.
- No budget.It forces designers to guess, and you get quotes you can't compare.
- Feedback by committee. Name one person who signs off. Five equal voices produce a beige compromise.
- An unexplained deadline.“End of March for our funding round” helps a designer plan around what matters; a date with no reason is easy to miss.
What to do with your brief
Send the PDF to the designers or agencies you're considering, so every quote covers the same thing. If you'd like me to quote it, my prices are flat: $700 for a landing page, $1,999 for a complete custom website or app, or $2,500 a month as a Monthly Partner (details on the pricing page). Paste your brief into the form on my contact pageand you'll get a scope, timeline and fixed price back.