Writing a brief

Most disappointing projects were clearly briefed badly. A good brief is short, specific and testable.

What a brief must contain

The essentials

• The business objective, in one sentence
• The audience, described precisely enough to exclude people
• The action you want them to take and how you will know it happened
• Constraints: budget, time, technology, brand, legal
• What already exists and what has been tried
• Who decides, and by when

Make acceptance testable

Replace "a modern website" with statements someone can verify: the primary funnel step converts at least X per cent, the site renders correctly on the devices the audience actually uses, an editor can publish without developer help. If you cannot describe how you would check it, it is not a requirement.

What to leave out

Solution detail. Specifying the technology and the layout in the brief removes the supplier's ability to tell you that a different approach would cost less and work better, which is the thing you are paying for.

Then what

Use the brief to compare proposals on substance. See choosing an agency.