TL;DR
A good design brief is clear about the problem being solved, the audience being served, the goals being pursued, and the constraints in play — without dictating the solution. It should take 1–3 pages to write and include: project background, audience definition, goals and success metrics, examples of inspiration, technical requirements, and timeline/budget. The purpose of a brief is to give a designer or agency enough context to make great decisions independently.
Why Most Briefs Fail
Bad briefs share one of two failure modes:
Too vague: “We need a website redesign. Something modern and professional.”
This tells a designer nothing. What does “modern” mean to you? What’s wrong with the current design? Who are you trying to reach?
Too prescriptive: “We want a dark blue header with the logo on the left, then a hero image with our CEO, then three columns with icons…”
This isn’t a brief — it’s a wireframe. You’ve taken the design thinking away from the designer, who then has no opportunity to bring expertise or creativity to your problem.
The sweet spot: clear on the problem and constraints, open on the solution.
What a Good Design Brief Includes
1. Project Overview (1–2 paragraphs)
What is being designed and why? What’s the background?
Example: “We’re a B2B SaaS platform serving small accounting firms. Our current website was built in 2021 and no longer reflects our product or positioning. We’ve raised a Series A, expanded the team, and need a website that reflects our current market position and drives enterprise demo requests.”
2. The Problem
What specific problem is the design meant to solve?
Example: “Our current homepage has a 0.4% conversion rate for demo requests. We believe this is because the value proposition isn’t clear in the first 5 seconds, and the page doesn’t address our target buyer (finance directors at 20–200 person companies).“
3. Audience
Who is this designed for? Be specific.
Include:
- Who they are (job title, company size, sophistication)
- What they care about (their priorities, not yours)
- How they typically arrive at this site (organic search, referral, paid ads)
- What they need to feel or know before taking action
4. Goals and Success Metrics
What does success look like? Define it before the project starts.
Examples:
- “Demo request conversion rate increases from 0.4% to 2%+”
- “The site clearly communicates our positioning to a finance director within 10 seconds”
- “Google PageSpeed score of 90+ on mobile”
- “Launched within 8 weeks”
5. Inspiration Examples
Share 3–5 examples of sites you admire — but always explain what specifically you like about each one.
“We like [website A] for its clean information hierarchy” is useful. “We want it to look like [website A]” is not — it removes creative latitude.
Note: inspiration from different industries is often more useful than direct competitors.
6. Brand Guidelines
If brand guidelines exist, share them. If not, describe:
- Colours you use (and any to avoid)
- Existing fonts or font preferences
- Tone of voice (formal/informal, technical/accessible)
- Imagery style (photography vs illustration, lifestyle vs abstract)
7. Technical Requirements
- Platform or CMS requirements (must be on WordPress, headless CMS, etc.)
- Integration requirements (CRM, booking system, payment)
- Device and browser requirements
- Accessibility standards required (WCAG 2.1 AA is the usual target)
- Performance targets
8. Timeline and Budget
Be honest about both. Vague timelines produce vague plans. “We need this live in 8 weeks for our product launch on May 1” is much more useful than “as soon as possible.”
Budget ranges: if you have a budget ceiling, share it. Agencies scope to budget — if you say $15,000, they’ll scope $15,000 of work. If you say “open budget,” you’ll receive proposals ranging from $5,000 to $80,000.
9. Stakeholders and Decision Process
Who is involved in approvals? How many rounds of review are expected? Who has final sign-off?
This prevents the classic situation where a design is approved by one person, then rejected by a more senior stakeholder who wasn’t involved.
Design Brief Template
PROJECT BRIEF
Project: [Name]
Date: [Date]
Contact: [Name, email, phone]
OVERVIEW
[1–2 paragraphs on what's being designed and why]
THE PROBLEM
[What specific problem are we solving?]
AUDIENCE
Primary audience: [Description]
Secondary audience: [Description]
What they care about: [Key concerns/goals]
How they arrive at the site: [Traffic sources]
GOALS & SUCCESS METRICS
1. [Specific, measurable goal]
2. [Specific, measurable goal]
3. [Specific, measurable goal]
INSPIRATION
[Site 1]: [URL] — What I like: [specific detail]
[Site 2]: [URL] — What I like: [specific detail]
[Site 3]: [URL] — What I like: [specific detail]
BRAND
Colours: [hex codes if available, or description]
Fonts: [current or preferred]
Tone: [formal/informal, technical/accessible]
Imagery: [style notes]
[Link to brand guidelines if available]
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
Platform: [requirements]
Integrations: [list]
Devices: [mobile-first, tablet, desktop]
Accessibility: [WCAG standard]
Performance target: [Lighthouse score or load time]
TIMELINE
Hard deadline: [Date]
Key milestones: [Any fixed dates]
BUDGET
Range: [£X – £Y]
STAKEHOLDERS
Decision-maker: [Name]
Approvers: [Names]
Review rounds expected: [number]
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a design brief be?
1–3 pages is ideal. A brief that’s shorter is usually missing important context. A brief that’s longer is usually confusing the problem with the solution.
Should I share competitor websites in the brief?
Yes, but be careful with direct competitors as inspiration — designers may unconsciously replicate them too closely. Inspiration from adjacent industries often produces more distinctive results.
What if I don’t have a budget in mind?
Think of it differently: what is the business outcome this design needs to produce, and what’s that worth? A homepage redesign that increases demo requests from 0.4% to 2% on 5,000 monthly visitors is worth significant investment. Work backwards from ROI.
Final Thoughts
A well-written brief is the single biggest factor in getting great design work. Invest an hour in writing it carefully — it pays back many times over in fewer revisions, better work, and less frustration.
Share your brief with us and let’s talk through your project →