A brief that starts with colours and reference sites can miss the reason the business needs a new website. Visual direction matters, but the first useful conversation is about the tasks the site should support.
List the important journeys
Ask what customers need to find, compare, buy or request. Ask what the business team needs to update and handle. Different answers may reveal a need for a service page, a product structure, a booking process or an internal tool rather than simply a new homepage.
Use references with a purpose
When someone likes large imagery or a portfolio carousel, identify the useful principle behind it. Is it the focus, the spacing or the way a visitor discovers the next item? Apply that principle to the business rather than reproducing another studio’s content or identity.
Agree the practical boundaries
Content, integrations, hosting, review time and responsibility for updates all affect delivery. Make these visible before the build. A clear brief gives design room to be distinctive while keeping the project tied to decisions the business can make.
Put it into practice
- Describe the main visitor actions
- Explain what you like about references
- Agree content and integration responsibilities
At 3 & A Half Geniuses, we bring design, websites, apps and practical AI workflows into the same conversation. Explore your AI brain or tell Darren what you are working on.