Before you brief a web designer: a 10-minute checklist
A good brief saves a week of back-and-forth. Here is the short version I send to every founder before our first call.
You don’t need a 20-page document. You need clear answers to a handful of questions. Ten minutes now saves days later.
Answer these before the call
- Who is the site for? Name one primary audience.
- What is the one action you want visitors to take?
- Which three competitors or sites do you like, and why?
- What do prospects ask on every sales call?
- What assets exist already: logo, brand colors, product screenshots?
- Who signs off on the design, and how fast can they reply?
- What is the real deadline, and what happens if it slips?
- What budget range are you working with?
Nice to have
Analytics access for the current site, a list of pages you know you need, and any copy you have already written, even if it is rough.
Send what you have, gaps included. A good designer will help you fill the rest.
Keep reading
What investors actually look at on your startup website
Before the first call, an investor has already formed an opinion. Usually in under a minute, usually on your homepage.
Landing page vs full website: what your startup needs first
One page or six? The honest answer depends on what you need the site to do in the next three months, not the next three years.