Before the moodboard: a useful website brief.

A website project often begins with a collection of references. One has beautiful typography. Another has a memorable animation. A third makes the work look irresistible. Those references are useful, but they describe a feeling more clearly than they describe a problem.

A useful brief connects the two. It gives the design team room to explore while making the purpose of the website clear. You do not need to arrive with every answer. You need enough context to have a productive first conversation.

Start with the change you need

Describe what is difficult about the current experience. “The website feels old” is a starting point. “Visitors cannot understand what we do without calling us” gives the team something more specific to work with.

Try writing three short sentences:

• Today, visitors struggle to understand or do this.
• We want the new website to help them do this instead.
• We will know the experience is clearer when we can observe this.

The last sentence does not need to promise a percentage increase in sales. It might describe a visitor finding a relevant project, understanding a service or sending an inquiry with enough detail to start a conversation.

Name the people behind the visit

A prospective client, a collaborator and a job applicant can arrive at the same homepage with different questions. List the two or three audiences that matter most, then describe what each needs to know.

For a prospective client, that might mean: does this studio understand a business like mine, can it do the kind of work I need, and how do I get started? Those questions help determine the content and navigation before anyone starts arranging a page.

If one audience is the priority, say so. Trying to give every visitor equal prominence can leave the homepage without a clear purpose.

Bring the content into the conversation early

Content changes the design. A portfolio with six finished projects needs a different structure from one with forty projects, each containing photographs, drawings and a detailed story.

Make a simple inventory of what is available:

• Brand assets and the current company description.
• Services, including what each service actually covers.
• Projects, with images, context and permission to show them.
• Team information, contact details and useful supporting material.

Mark what is ready, what needs editing and what still needs to be created. Assign an owner to the missing pieces. A design built around content that does not exist is harder to finish than one shaped around a realistic publishing plan.

Explain why you like a reference

Send a few references with a sentence beside each. “We like the way this site introduces a complex service” is more useful than “make it look like this.” You might admire a reading rhythm, the treatment of project images or the feeling created by motion.

Also share anything that feels wrong for your business. A dramatic entrance might suit one brand and slow down the first impression for another. The goal is to describe the qualities you value, then find an expression that belongs to you.

Decide what must work on launch day

Separate the essentials from the next iteration. A clear service explanation, an accessible project collection and a reliable contact path might be essential. A client portal could belong to a separate product or later phase.

Include practical constraints: the hosting you have, who will update the site, any existing systems it needs to connect to and a real deadline if there is one. These details affect the build and the handover as much as the visual direction.

A budget range can help the team propose a realistic scope. It does not need to be a final quotation before the conversation starts.

Keep the brief open enough to improve

The brief is a shared starting point. It should make the challenge clear without prescribing every solution. Leave room for research, questions and ideas that were not in the first set of references.

Our REE Design case study shows one example of a clear ambition: communicate the architectural practice and present its projects beautifully. The useful work begins when that ambition becomes decisions about hierarchy, imagery and the visitor’s path through the site.

If you are preparing a project, bring the rough notes. A conversation can help turn them into a brief. Tell us what you have in mind.