Website brief
Goal, audience, pages, features, content, deadline and budget in one document.
- •Name: Glina Ceramics Studio
- •Industry: crafts and workshops
- •Current site: none
- Today we take workshop sign-ups in Instagram messages and some people get lost along the way.
- Adults from the area looking for something to do at the weekend, and companies that book team-building workshops.
- •pottery.example.com: a clear class calendar
- •Home
- •About
- •Offer or services
- •Pricing
- •FAQ
- •Contact
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When to use the website brief
A brief describes the problem, the audience and the constraints. The vendor chooses the technology.
If you want quotes for the same website from several companies,
then send them all the same brief. Its quality decides whether you get quotes for the same project, or for several different ones that can't be compared.
If you don't know exactly what you need yet,
then describe the problem, the users and the process, and in place of the features write that the list is open. A brief like this is the starting point for a paid analysis phase.
If you already have a detailed description of features, screens and acceptance criteria,
then you have a specification, not a brief. A specification grows out of a brief, not in place of it. Specification generator
If the project is co-financed from EU funds, or you are ordering as a public body,
then check the procedure for choosing a vendor before you send the brief to the first company. Choosing outside the required procedure can mean the expense is not recognised as eligible.
If the new website replaces an old one,
then attach the list of current page addresses, so the vendor can plan the redirects. Migration checklist
What next: the same brief to several companies
A brief is most valuable when every vendor gets exactly the same thing. For example, one week for questions and another week for offers, so the answers reach everyone in time.
- SendingOne version of the brief, with a date or version number
- A week for questionsAnswers for everyone, without saying who asked
- ConversationsHalf an hour with each company
- A week for questionsQuestions about the brief
- A week for offersOffers in the same structure: scope, exclusions, assumptions, billing model, schedule
The brief
You Vendors. If you change something, you send the new version to everyone.
Questions
Vendors You. A company that read the brief carefully usually comes back with a few specific questions.
Offers
Vendors You. Half an hour going through the questions shows more than the offer alone.
Questions
First about what happens to what you type, then about the document itself.
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Send it to us with your question. We reply within an hour with a quote.