In short
- Describe needs and goals, not technical solutions.
- Prioritise features: essential, important, later.
- A clear brief gives comparable quotes and a better-controlled project.
Most digital projects that go off track have one thing in common: a poorly expressed need at the start. The project brief is not a fifty-page administrative document. It is a simple tool so that you, your team and your provider talk about the same project.
01Context and goals
Present your company in a few lines, then answer one question: why this project now? Winning customers online, reducing manual data entry, replacing a tool that no longer fits… Measurable goals then make it possible to judge the result.
02The users
Who will use the website, the app or the software? Customers on mobile, sales reps in the field, accountants in the office? For each type of user, note what they must be able to do, on which device and in which language.
03Features, prioritised
List the expected features, then rank them:
- Essential: the project makes no sense without it.
- Important: to include in the first version if possible.
- Later: a good idea for a following version.
This prioritisation is the key to a quick first launch, which is then enriched.
Describe the problem to solve, not the solution: proposing the best one is your provider’s job.
The Codex team
04Content and identity
Do you have a logo, brand guidelines, texts, photos? State what exists and what remains to be produced. Add two or three websites or apps you like, and say why: it is often more telling than a long description.
05What exists and the constraints
- tools already in place to connect (accounting, stock, CRM, delivery);
- data to take over from an old system or Excel files;
- regulatory, security or hosting constraints;
- languages: French, Arabic, English.
06Budget and schedule
Giving a budget range is not a trap: it lets the provider propose the solution best suited to your means, rather than an offer that is too expensive or too light. Also state a key date if there is one (a trade show, a sales season, a product launch).
07After launch
Who will update the content? Is training, maintenance or hosting needed? These questions change the quote: better to ask them from the start.
08What if you do not have time to write it?
That is common, and it is the whole point of a scoping workshop. At Codex, every project starts with a conversation about your business and your users. We then write the scope with you, and the UI/UX design team turns the needs into user journeys and mock-ups approved before development.
Our serviceGraphic & UI/UX designVisual identity, interfaces and experiences that build trust at first glance.