Project Brief Template with a Filled Design Example
Align a project before work begins. Use a brief for goals, audience, deliverables, scope, budget and approval, with a fictional website design example.
Template content is in English. The included worked examples are fictional.
Inside this Buildin template
A blank brief and a filled running-club website example in two child pages, plus three deliverables and four open decisions in two editable tables.
A project brief helps a client and team agree on the problem, expected outcome and boundaries before work begins. Keep it short enough to review together, but specific enough to resolve questions about scope and acceptance.
Use this structure for a design commission, a small website project or an internal initiative. Keep detailed feature requirements and delivery tasks in the documents that follow the brief.
Blank project brief
| Question | Your answer |
|---|---|
| What is the project called? | |
| Who owns the decision? | |
| What problem are we solving? | |
| Who is the work for? | |
| What should the audience be able to do afterward? | |
| What will we deliver? | |
| What is outside the scope? | |
| What existing material can we use? | |
| Who supplies copy, images and other inputs? | |
| What budget or resource limit applies? | |
| What dates matter, and why? | |
| Who reviews each stage? | |
| What makes the result acceptable? | |
| Which questions remain unresolved? |
A useful answer describes a decision or an observable result. “A modern website” leaves room for conflicting interpretations. “Visitors can find the next event and submit an enquiry from a phone” gives the team something to check.
Filled example: a running club website
The club, budget and project below are fictional. The figures illustrate how to write a brief; they are not market prices or reported results.
| Field | Example answer |
|---|---|
| Project | Harbor Running Club information site |
| Owner | Club coordinator |
| Problem | Event details are scattered across messages, and new runners do not know how to join |
| Audience | Local adults looking for an introductory group run |
| Intended outcome | A visitor can find the next run, understand the pace and contact the coordinator |
| Deliverables | A home page, an event-information page and a short enquiry form |
| Out of scope | Payments, member accounts, race registration and a new logo |
| Inputs | Coordinator supplies the schedule, meeting point and approved photos |
| Budget | Illustrative ceiling of USD 1,500, to be agreed before commissioning |
| Timing | Review the content outline first; agree build dates after the inputs are ready |
| Review | Coordinator approves the outline, then the page preview |
| Acceptance | Event details are correct, the pages work on a phone, and a test enquiry reaches the coordinator |
Turn open questions into decisions
| Open question | Person to answer | Needed before | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can we use the existing club photos? | Coordinator | Page layout | |
| Who will keep event information current? | Coordinator | Handover | |
| Which enquiry fields are necessary? | Coordinator and designer | Form setup |
Resolve a missing input before it becomes an assumed promise. If the scope changes, update the deliverables, exclusions and approval notes together.
How to use the brief
- Write the problem and audience before discussing visual preferences.
- List the deliverables and what the project excludes.
- Give each input and approval a named owner.
- Agree the acceptance checks before production starts.
- Keep unresolved questions visible until someone answers them.
- Share the approved brief with the people planning the work.
Common questions
How is a project brief different from a project plan?
The brief aligns the purpose and boundaries. A project plan breaks the agreed work into actions, owners and dates. Link the two rather than repeating every task in the brief.
Is this a product requirements document?
Use a PRD for detailed product behavior and feature requirements. This brief stays at the level of audience, business outcome, deliverables and approval.
Can I use it for graphic design instead of a website?
Yes. Replace the website pages with the actual design deliverables and their formats, then state the audience, assets, review process and exclusions for that commission.
