7 min read
How to write a brief that gets you better design
Five questions that make any design project faster and better.
The best projects I have worked on started with a short brief, not a long one. A long brief often hides the real problem under a list of preferences. A short one forces everyone to agree on what matters.
Over the years I have boiled my intake down to five questions. They take an hour to answer well, and they save weeks later on.
The five questions
Who is this for?
What should they do after seeing it?
What makes you different?
What must stay, and what can change?
Who makes the final decision?
Who is this for?
Not “everyone” and not a demographic. Describe one real customer: what they were doing before they found you, and what made them choose you. Design gets sharper the more specific this answer is.
What should they do after seeing it?
Book a call, buy a product, sign up, remember the name. One action, not five. Every layout decision is easier when we know which button matters.
What makes you different?
If the answer is “quality and service”, keep digging. The real difference is usually a detail the founder takes for granted: a faster turnaround, a narrower niche, a guarantee nobody else offers.
What must stay, and what can change?
Some things are sacred: a name, a colour customers recognise, a photo of the founder. Knowing them up front stops the project from drifting into a redesign nobody asked for.
Who makes the final decision?
The most common reason projects stall is a decision-maker who joins late. Name them on day one and invite them to the first and last review.
A good brief is not a wish list. It is an agreement about what success looks like.
Answer those five honestly and the rest of the project gets easier. Send them to your designer before the first call, and you will spend that call on ideas instead of questions.
