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Writing a website design brief

This document was written, and licensed for publication by MDA.

Writing a website design brief

A good design brief is essential to the development of a good website. Whether you are developing your museum's website in-house or through an external designer, your design brief should cover all of the following:

Overview

The Overview should lay out the current situation for the designer. Does your museum already have a website? Are you planning a complete overhaul or just a cosmetic makeover? If you do already have a site, how does it integrate with your other activities?

Aims and Objectives

The Aims and Objectives section should explain what you hope to achieve by having a website. Is the site to act as a 'shop window' for your museum, or will you be using it to provide educational material to schools as part of a visit? Use this section to give your designers an insight into the type of website you need.

Audience

The intended audience for your website can make a huge difference to the way it looks, feels and works. It is essential to take the time to identify audiences clearly in the design brief. Resist the temptation to say 'everyone', as this will lead to a website that satisfies nobody's requirements.

Points to consider include:

  • What is the main audience for your museum? Do people use your collections as a point of reference for academic research?
  • Do school groups/children use your collections to help with homework?
  • Is the audience for your website going to be the same as it is for your museum?
  • Is there already information about your subject areas available online?

Design Specification

The Design Specification covers how your web pages will appear on the screen - it covers everything from layout to colour. Web designers will generally interpret a Design Specification quite literally, so it is important to be as clear as possible. Specific points to consider include:

  • Does your museum have a house-style? If so, what elements should be reflected in the website design (font-face, colours, logo and branding etc)?
  • How will the design appeal to your audiences? This will govern how much text you want to see on a page, how you use pictures and whether you design pages specifically for younger children.

It is always a good idea to include both sketches and the addresses of sites you particularly like (or dislike) in this part of the document. This will help the designer to get a feel for what you are trying to achieve.

Functionality Specification

The Functionality Specification covers how your website will work. This includes the way people will navigate through your pages and the actions performed by any buttons or effects you want to include on the site. It is a good idea to draw up a draft site structure as part of this section. You can do this as a basic flow-chart with boxes for pages and lines representing the links between them. This will highlight any areas that may cause additional cost and delay later in the process. Always ensure that your Functionality Specification includes the following:

  • Navigation;
  • Media requirements (just text and pictures or animation, virtual reality and sound?);
  • Interactive elements;
  • Specific functions (e.g. 'Print this Page' or 'Email this Page to a Friend');
  • Will the site consist of 'static' web pages or be assembled from a database?

Also consider how you will view the site as it progresses. Ensure that your designer is able to host a 'live' version to which you have access over the Internet so that you can see how it develops.

The Functionality Specification must always be drawn up alongside an Accessibility Specification.

Accessibility Specification

The Accessibility Specification gives the designer precise instructions on ensuring that your website is accessible to the widest possible audience and meets accessibility guidelines and legislation. For more information on this, refer to the fact sheet on Web Accessibility.

A key element of this section is a clear statement that the contract will not be completed until the website is checked for accessibility using one of the popular tools (e.g. W3C, Bobby or NetMechanic).

Deliverables

The Deliverables for a project specify exactly what the designer must provide by the end of the contract period. These will usually include:

  • The website itself - usually a series of HTML pages;
  • Documentation - a list of the pages along with a map of how they fit together;
  • Clear information on how your museum will manage the site once the contract has ended;
  • A clear indication that the code has passed accessibility requirements.

Budget

The Budget for your website will be a key factor in the website you receive. It is particularly important to remember that you may be charged for any changes you make to the design along the way. It is to your advantage to provide as much information in the brief as possible to avoid incurring these additional costs. Also, interactive elements on your pages will be expensive and you should always consider whether they add significantly to the user's experience. If not, leave them out.

Timetable

Designers are often juggling conflicting priorities, and web development timetables are highly prone to slippage. Always ensure that the timetable for developing your site includes ample time for checking and evaluation prior to launch. Also, provide the designer with clear milestones for delivery within the project, including dates for initial concepts, completion of functionality and sign-off of design.

It is important to establish clear lines of communication from the outset of the project. Make sure there is a single point of contact in your museum and with your designers, and that all project-related information is passed through these two people. If possible, set up a closed email group (see the fact sheet on E-mail for more information) to allow everyone involved in the project to follow progress.

Copyright Statement

Your design brief must include a clear statement of the ownership of copyright over the pages, code, content and images created or used in developing the site. In particular, you should ensure that rights over the coding of the pages remain with your museum. Resolving this from the outset will greatly reduce the potential for disagreement later in the project.

Terms and Conditions

Finally, the Terms and Conditions should lay out in detail exactly what is expected of the designer in terms of service provision, and should include the following:

  • Will they be working on or off-site?
  • Will payment be made in phases, in advance or on completion?;
  • The expected level of consultation between designers and the museum;
  • A process for resolving conflict or disagreement (preferably through a third party).

This fact sheet was compiled with generous assistance from Nick Poole of Resource: the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, Nick Gander of the former Yorkshire Museums Council and the former Committee for Area Museum Councils.

MDA provides impartial resources for all aspects of collections information management. For more information please contact: Collections Link - 0845 838 4000.