Founders often tell us they do not know what to write when they contact a design agency. They worry the brief has to be perfect. It does not.
You need about one page. Good agencies expect to ask questions. But the more clearly you can say a few things up front, the faster you get a useful reply and a quote that matches your real needs.
Here is what we find most helpful, in the order we would write it.
Goals in one paragraph
Start with what you want to be true after the project that is not true today.
Good goals are specific and about the business:
- "New users should reach their first report without help."
- "We need a product demo for investors in six weeks."
- "Our pricing page gets visits but few people start a trial."
Weak goals are about the design itself: "modern look", "better UX", "make it pop". An agency can do those things and still miss what you needed.
If you have more than one goal, rank them. When time or budget gets tight, the ranking tells everyone what to protect.
It also helps to say what a good result is not. "We do not want a full rebrand" or "we do not want to change the pricing model" saves a long conversation.
Who the product is for
Write two or three sentences about your users. Who are they, what job are they trying to get done, and what do they do today instead of using your product?
You do not need a formal persona document. What you need is something a designer can picture. "Operations managers at logistics companies with 50 to 500 staff, who track shipments in spreadsheets" is useful. "Everyone who wants to be more productive" is not.
Say what you know and what you are guessing. If you have talked to ten customers, say so. If your user picture comes from a hunch, say that too. Nobody will judge you, and it tells the agency where research could help.
Existing screens and analytics
If you already have a product, a prototype or even a rough sketch, share it. Seeing real material is far faster than reading a description.
Useful things to gather:
- A link to the live product, with a test login if it needs one
- Screenshots or a Figma file of current designs
- Sketches, notes or a pitch deck that explains the idea
- Any analytics you have: where people drop off, which features get used
- User feedback: support tickets, survey answers, call recordings
- Competitors or products you like, and a line on why you like them
Read-only access to analytics is a big help. If you have none, say so. We can still work, but we will rely more on reviewing the product directly. This is why our services usually begin with a short look at what exists before we draw anything new.
Do not hide the messy parts. An honest "this onboarding is a mess and we know it" gives the agency a head start.
Constraints: developers, budget, date
Constraints are not a weakness in a brief. They are what make a quote accurate.
Developers. Who will build the design? An in-house team, a freelancer, an agency, or nobody yet? What tools do they use? A design made for a React team with a component library looks different from one made for a no-code builder.
Budget. Give a range, even a wide one. Many founders avoid this because they fear being overcharged. In practice, the opposite happens. When an agency knows your range, it can tell you what fits, or say honestly that your budget does not cover your goals. Our own prices are public on the pricing page for this reason: you can see where you fit before you write to anyone.
Date. Is there a fixed deadline, such as a launch, a funding round or a conference? Or is it flexible? Say what happens if the date slips. Some dates are firm and some are only wishes, and the agency should know which.
Other limits. Brand rules you must follow, tools you must use, legal or accessibility requirements, markets and languages. Short bullet points are fine.
Who decides
This one is easy to skip and often causes the most trouble later.
Tell the agency:
- Who is the day-to-day contact?
- Who gives final approval?
- Who else needs to see the work, such as investors, a co-founder or a head of engineering?
- How fast can your team give feedback?
Projects slow down when feedback arrives from five people in five different directions in week three. If you can name one person who collects the feedback and speaks for the team, the work moves faster.
Also say how you like to communicate. Slack, email, weekly video update, calls? Your time zone and the hours when you are free to talk matter more than people think. We work from Dhaka with clients around the world, so we agree overlap hours at the start.
A brief template
Copy this, fill it in, and send it. Short answers are fine.
1. What we do (2 sentences): 2. Who it is for (2-3 sentences): 3. What we want to change or build: 4. Why now (the reason for the date): 5. Goals, in order of importance: 6. What exists today (links, files, analytics): 7. What we like and dislike (examples): 8. Who builds it, and with what tools: 9. Budget range: 10. Deadline, and how firm it is: 11. Who gives feedback, and who approves: 12. Anything that must not change:
If you can only answer half of these, send the half you have. A good agency will help with the rest on the first call.
What happens next
With a brief like this, an agency can reply with real questions instead of generic ones, and give you a quote that is based on your actual product. You can also compare agencies more fairly, because they are all responding to the same information.
If you want to send us yours, use the form at /contact. If you are not ready to write a brief yet, ask for a free design review of one flow. It is a good way to see how we think before you decide anything.
