The starting point

Start with one customer task, the information needed to complete it, and a clear next step. Use that to decide what the website needs.

Give the website a clear job

“We need a more modern website” is a reasonable starting point, but it leaves a lot unanswered. Does the business need more enquiries? Are customers struggling to understand the services? Does someone on the team spend hours explaining information that should be easy to find?

Choose the main job before discussing the design. For a service business, it might be helping the right customer describe a project and request a conversation. Write that down in one sentence. It becomes a useful test for every page you add.

A useful website brief

  1. Customer

    Who is arriving, and what do they need?

  2. Question

    What must they understand before acting?

  3. Next step

    What should they be able to do?

Work from the customer’s task toward the page, rather than starting with a list of features.

Walk through the current experience

Open your current site on a phone and try the same task a customer would. Find a service, look for the information that would help you decide, then complete the next step. Note where you hesitate, lose context or have to switch channels.

Separate missing information from visual problems. A clearer headline may solve one issue; a form that fails to deliver messages needs a different fix. A redesign brief is more useful when it names the problem than when it prescribes a particular animation or layout.

Keep, improve, replace

  1. Keep

    Useful pages, accurate information and working integrations.

  2. Improve

    Unclear copy, difficult navigation and awkward mobile layouts.

  3. Replace

    Broken steps or systems that cannot do the required job.

Example review categories for an existing business website.

Prepare the information before the polish

A designer can organize information, but someone still needs to supply it. Gather service descriptions, approved photographs, current contact details and answers to recurring customer questions. Check who owns each item and who can approve changes.

Be specific about proof. If you have permission to share a client project, describe what was done and what the evidence supports. If you do not, explain your process plainly. Stock statistics and unverified promises will not make the brief stronger.

Your content handover

  1. Offer

    What you do, who it is for and what is included.

  2. Evidence

    Approved work examples, useful details and accurate claims.

  3. Action

    The contact route, required fields and person who replies.

A small set of accurate content is more useful than pages of filler.

Agree on what ready to launch means

Make the acceptance checks part of the scope. Test the real contact route, check links, read the mobile layout, and try navigation using a keyboard. Responsive design includes text, images and different ways of interacting, not just fitting a desktop page onto a narrow screen.

Also agree on who can edit the website after launch and who handles maintenance. A site is easier to live with when those responsibilities are clear before the final invoice. If an existing page address changes, plan where its old links should send people.

  • Submit a real test enquiry and confirm it reaches the right inbox.
  • Check important pages at phone and desktop sizes, including error messages.
  • Confirm editing access, domain ownership, maintenance and the handover documents.