One of the most important aspects for a freelancer before the project begins is the design brief. For the freelancers who don’t have the luxury of working with clients face to face, the hardest part of a project is probably the beginning process - getting to know your client, and understanding exactly what they are looking to gain out of their site design, and what sort of concept they are looking for.

This is the make or break point. For me personally, this is where I can decide whether or not I want to work with a specific client. I tend to work with clients who have a better understanding of the web so that it makes my job easier, but I do select clients who are passionate about their websites, even if they don’t know the jargon to go along with it.

So, how then, do you make that perfect design brief? Well generally, the best thing for me to tell you is that every brief will be different. You must form your brief exactly how you want it so that it makes your process a lot easier. There is no right or wrong way. If you can ask the questions that’ll answer what you’re looking for, then by all means, ask it. Here are a few tips of how I formed my brief, and then you’ll have the option to download my basic brief at the end.

Break down the questions into sections:

It’s very important to break down the brief by sections so that it’s more organized, and allows the client to refer to previous questions, or skip them and come back to it later. It also tells the client what sort of questions are coming so that they can prepare their mindset for what’s coming.

Generally, I break down my briefs into several sections:

• Welcome & Instructions
• General Information (Finding out more about the client and the goals of the design)
• Design Information (the longest section, includes design references, colors, etc.)
• Structure Information (any important aspects of the site that need to be made evident)
• Additional Information (anything else the client would like to include)

Download my basic design brief.

Avoid Jargon:

I have a couple different design briefs that I usually send depending on what type of client I’m dealing with. I have one that contains hardly any jargon and really breaks everything down so that the client is comfortable. This is for people who usually don’t deal with the web, and these clients are new to the whole web-design process. I try to make it as friendly and personal as I can so that they enjoy the experience. It’s important not to overwhelm anyone with jargon - it doesn’t do you any good if you client can’t fill the brief out because they donut’ understand it.

However, the opposite is quite true as well. Originally, I had only that one brief that didn’t use any jargon, and broke everything down to layman terms. I got a friendly suggestion from one of my clients after filling the brief out saying that he “felt dumbed down” because the brief was so simple that it got a little frustrating and felt demeaning. So, I decided to create two different briefs - one which was easy to read and follow for clients that are new to the internet, and the other is for my more internet-savvy users who know what AJAX, xHTML, CSS, etc. is.

It’s an easy thing to do that will really take you a far way. Clients can sometimes be intimidated by the process, and it’s important that you make them realize it’s not as bad as they may think. The opposite is true, and those who feel extremely comfortable with the web don’t want to be insulted by reading a brief that was intended for someone who had no idea what the web is.

Don’t be afraid to ask too many:

Originally, my brief had only consisted of a few questions on each section. They were very general, and in the end, it made it very difficult for me to get a feeling for what the client wanted. More of it was interaction and trial & error, and it got to the point where it was extremely difficult for me to dictate the design concepts. So, I decided to find the problem, and it was in the brief.

Don’t be afraid to ask too many questions. If you’re hesitant to do so because you don’t want your brief to look like an exam, make sure to break it down into sections so that the client can refer to the brief on and off. Make sure that they understand they have a few days to fill the brief out, and that they should really put some work into it.

Asking a lot of questions makes it seem as if you really want to get into the nitty-gritty of what they want. However, be sure to avoid asking redundant questions, or ones which can simply be tied into another. Try not to be too repetitive, and make sure that each question has a purpose - you don’t want to ask more then you need to, but you shouldn’t be afraid to ask as many questions as it takes for you to understand what your client wants.

Overall, the design brief is probably one of the most important aspects to the pre-design process. It determines what direction you should take your concept, and what your client is looking for. The more exact you can get the brief, the less time you’ll spend on revisions, which means (for those of you who charge flat rates) less time working on the project.

With that being said, your design brief should be something that constantly changes to suit your needs, and to answer the questions that you need to know. All designers are different, and so it helps to make sure the brief is tailored exactly to your specific needs.

Download my basic design brief.

Finally, I’m getting over my flu!
Bryan