The creative brief is the equivalent of the “project proposal” for web development. This document clearly outlines the needs of the client and the goals of the website, including:
- The website’s goals (i.e: To sell a product? To inform the visitor? To be a portal for other websites? To provide access to users accounts? To stream video? etc…)
- The current situation (i.e: Does the client have an existing website? If so, how much of the original design will be kept? etc… )
- Target User (i.e: What is the language/age/gender/education of the target user? How up-to-date do we expect the browser of the target user to be? Is the target user familiar with the product/brand? etc…)
- Timeline (i.e: When does the website need to launch? When is the first round of design proposals due? etc…)
- Budget
- Staff (Name and contact information of the professionals involved)
- Specifications (What specific requirements will the website need to fulfill? i.e: Responsive design, payment options, embedded videos, pop-up, spam protection, encryption, analytics etc…)
- Maintenance (Who will support future needs once the website launches? i.e: Does the client have an in-house IT, or will the web development team schedule maintenance?)
– Anna Pinkas
