How to write a brief for a website or app project

What is a project brief and why does it matter?

A project brief is a short document that tells an agency what you want to achieve and within what limits, so they can recommend an approach and give you an accurate quote. It is the difference between a first call spent on discovery and a first call spent on real advice.

A clear brief also makes quotes comparable. When three agencies answer the same brief, the differences in their proposals tell you how they think, rather than reflecting three different guesses about what you want.

What should a website or app brief include?

Cover these sections in plain language. A sentence or two on each is enough to start; the agency's questions will fill in the rest.

• About you: what the company does, for whom, and where it is today.
• The problem: why this project, and why now.
• Goals: the outcome that would make it a success, measured if possible.
• Audience: who will use it, and what they are trying to get done.
• Scope: the website, web app or mobile app, and the main things it must do.
• What exists: current site or app, brand, designs, content, systems to integrate.
• Constraints: budget range, deadline and why it matters, technical or legal requirements.
• Out of scope: what this project will not include.
• Decision making: who approves the work, and how quickly decisions can be made.

Should you include a budget?

Yes. A budget range is the single most useful line in a brief, because the same goal can be met in very different ways at different costs. Without it, an agency either guesses or proposes the version it would most like to build. Our cost guide lists typical starting prices to help you set one.

Sharing a range does not mean it will all be spent. A good agency will tell you what fits inside it, what does not, and whether a smaller first phase would get you most of the value sooner.

How detailed should the scope be?

Detailed about outcomes, light about solutions. Say what users need to be able to do, such as book an appointment, pay an invoice or track an order, and let the agency propose how. A brief that specifies every screen in advance tends to lock in decisions before anyone has tested them.

Do be specific about anything fixed: integrations with existing systems, platforms you must support, accessibility or compliance requirements, and content that already exists.

What mistakes should you avoid in a brief?

Most weak briefs fail in one of a few predictable ways. Each one leads to quotes that are hard to compare and projects that change shape halfway through.

• Describing a solution ("we need an app") instead of the problem it should solve.
• No budget range, so every quote is a guess.
• A deadline with no reason behind it, which makes it impossible to trade scope for time.
• Listing every feature at equal priority instead of ranking them.
• Leaving out existing systems the product has to work with.
• No single person on your side who can make decisions.

A brief template you can copy

Copy these headings into an email or a document and answer each in a few sentences, or let the free project brief builder ask you the questions and write the brief for you. That is enough for an agency to come back with useful questions and a first view on scope, timeline and cost.

• Project name and one-line summary.
• Who we are and what we do.
• The problem we want to solve, and why now.
• What success looks like in six months.
• Who will use it, and the top three things they need to do.
• What we need: website, web app, iOS app, Android app.
• What already exists: site, app, brand, designs, content, systems.
• Budget range and deadline, with the reason for the deadline.
• Must haves, nice to haves, and what is out of scope.
• Who decides, and how we prefer to work together.

What happens after you send the brief?

A good agency replies with questions before it replies with a price. Expect a call to talk through the goals and constraints, followed by a written proposal with the scope, the approach, milestones and a quote, which you can then compare like for like with others.

At X-Studio we reply to every brief within two business days, and the people on that first call are the people who would build the project. If a smaller first phase or a different approach would serve you better, we will say so.