Why website designers need a good project brief

When it comes to creating, redesigning or enhancing your website, the first thing you need to do is work out what needs to be achieved. More importantly you need to work out the true cost of your solution.

Ok, so you have decided what you want to achieve. The next stage is to find a reliable and reasonable supplier who can give you everything you need as well as the best value for money. This process is not a piece of cake and can be very daunting to anyone who is not familiar. The most effective way to begin the process is to create a full brief.

When you brief someone you are preparing them by giving them a set of instructions. In essence, your brief is the document that informs your web site designer your requirements, what you are wishing to achieve, the market and audience you are targeting and any other relevant information. Once this brief is produced you will be able to establish which solution to choose from the agency, the cost of the solution.

How long should my brief be? Well that depends on your requirements but a brief is required for all website projects. For a smaller project the brief may only consist of a few lines in an email. However, for larger projects an invitation to tender for the project may be required.

However, you need to bear in mind that the response you get from agencies will depend on the information supplied in the brief, so it is important that you set a good balance in terms of the information you provide for the agency to respond to.

Any web designer who is a true professional will always ask you for a project brief or an overview of your proposed website project to enable them to gain an understanding of what you want and how the website should work.

A professional web designer will receive many project briefs either in the form of a few scribbled lines on a piece of paper, a two line email or a complex document. However, no matter how small or large your project, a brief should always be provided.

So why should I bother writing a project brief for a website project?

No project brief means delayed project, over budget, website not what you expected it to be. No project brief also means you may get a website that does not function or resemble what you expected.

When you first decide you want to revamp or design your website it is all exciting and you have adrenalin rushes because you are visualising how you want it to look. But once you sit down and reality sinks in it then dawns on you how much of a hassle compiling a detailed document of your requirements can be. However, it is worth it because it is this very document that will enable your website designer to give you an accurate quote for the work you require and it also means they are able to code and develop the website quickly and accurately.

At the end of the day you are paying for a website that you want. If no effort is put into writing a brief then the website will reflect the instructions given to the designer. A detailed brief will save you time and money in the long run. A project brief is crucial for any web site project and without one your website designer will struggle without one to give you what you want.

Many website designers have website templates for you to browse a design as well as plenty of information to give you an accurate quotation.