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Process12 Jul 20265 min read

How to write a brief that gets good design back

Slow design projects are almost always caused by unclear inputs, not slow designers. A good brief is short, specific, and honest about constraints.

How to write a brief that gets good design back

Write the outcome, not the artefact

"We need a landing page" describes an artefact. "We need people who found us on LinkedIn to book a call" describes an outcome — and it changes almost every design decision that follows.

Name the audience and the objection

Tell us who reads this and what makes them hesitate. Most design work is answering an objection visually before it gets asked.

Give constraints early

Deadlines, brand rules, technical limits, and the internal opinion that will need convincing. Constraints given up front speed work up; constraints revealed in review send it backwards.

What to leave out

Skip prescribed layouts and skip competitor screenshots as instructions. Share them as references for tone, not as specifications to copy.

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