The quality of a website or app often depends on what happens before any design work begins. A clear brief helps your design and development team understand your goals, avoid guesswork and deliver something that fits on the first try. A vague brief leads to extra revisions, delays and a result that feels slightly off.
You do not need to be technical to write a good brief. You just need to answer a few clear questions. Here is how.
1. Start with your business
Explain who you are and what you do in plain language. Include:
- What you sell or offer.
- Who your customers are.
- What makes you different from competitors.
- Your industry and any rules that apply to it.
This context shapes everything from the tone of the copy to the features you need.
2. Define the goal
What should this project achieve? Be specific. "A new website" is a deliverable, not a goal. Good goals sound like:
- "Get more qualified enquiries from business clients."
- "Let customers buy online instead of messaging us."
- "Give our team one dashboard instead of four spreadsheets."
If you can attach a measure, even better. It gives everyone a shared definition of success.
3. Choose the platform
Tell the team what you need built: a website, an online store, a web app, a mobile app or a combination. If you already use certain tools, such as a payment provider, a CRM or a booking system, list them. Integrations often shape the scope more than design does.
4. List the pages, screens and features
Write down what you think you need. It does not have to be final, and a good team will challenge it. For a website, this might be a home page, services, about, case studies, blog and contact. For an app, list the main screens and the key actions users take on each one.
Mark each item as must have or nice to have. This makes it much easier to adjust scope if needed.
5. Share your inspiration
References save hours of back and forth. Share a few websites, apps or brands you like, and say exactly what you like about each one. "The clean layout", "the way the pricing is explained" and "the bold typography" are far more useful than "I just like it". Share examples you dislike too.
If you have brand guidelines, logos, fonts or photography, include them. If you do not, say so, so the team can plan for it.
6. Content: who writes it?
Content is one of the most common causes of delay. Decide early who will provide the text, images and videos. If your team is writing it, set a deadline. If you need help, include copywriting or photography in the scope from the start.
7. Timeline and constraints
Share any fixed dates, such as a product launch, an event or a campaign. Mention constraints like approval processes, legal reviews or technical limits. The earlier the team knows, the better they can plan.
8. Decision makers
Name the person who gives final approval. Projects slow down when feedback arrives from several people with different opinions. One decision maker, supported by a small group of reviewers, keeps things moving.
A simple brief template
Copy this into a document and fill it in:
- About us: who we are, what we sell, who we serve.
- Goal: what this project should achieve, and how we will measure it.
- Platform: website, store, app, or combination.
- Pages, screens and features: must haves and nice to haves.
- Integrations: tools and systems we already use.
- Inspiration: links we like and why, plus links we dislike.
- Brand assets: logos, colours, fonts, photos.
- Content: who provides it, and by when.
- Timeline: key dates and constraints.
- Decision maker: who approves the final work.
An example
Atlas Fitness Co., a fictional gym brand, briefed its first website with a single line: "We need a modern site." The first draft missed the mark because nobody knew the real goal was class bookings. Its second project, a member app, came with a one page brief using the template above. The team delivered a first version that needed only minor tweaks.
The bottom line
A great brief is short, specific and honest. Spend an hour on it before your project starts, and you will save days of revisions later. The clearer the brief, the closer the first version is to what you actually want.
Ready to build something?
Mashify is a full-stack team on your terms. Start with a one-time project, where you choose your platform, pages and features and see your itemized total before you commit. Or keep building with Mashify Unlimited, one monthly plan for ongoing websites, stores and apps, with requests tracked in your own dashboard.