The one-page brief.
This is the document I open on Monday morning, ninety minutes into the call, and finish before the kettle boils a second time. If it fits on one page, the week will fit inside seven days. If it does not, the week is already in trouble.
Project header
Company
Legal name, trading name, and the single contact who signs off.
Project week
The Monday the week starts. No “roughly” — a date.
Primary decision-maker
One name. Two maximum. Nine signatories is how weeks die.
The five questions
01 · Goal
What does the site do for the business in the next twelve months? Book calls? Sell a product? Defend a category? One sentence.
02 · Audience
Who lands on the homepage? Role, stage, what they’re worried about at 11pm the night before they hire you.
03 · Pages
List the pages you need in week one. If it’s more than six, cut to six. The rest is second sprint.
04 · Voice
Three adjectives. Three brands that sound right. Three brands that absolutely don’t.
05 · Constraints
Anything non-negotiable: existing domain, existing stack, compliance, an offer that expires on day nine. Say it now, not Thursday.
Scope gate
Write “In” or “Out” next to each of the following. Ambiguity here is the single most common reason a seven-day week becomes a seventeen-day week.
Blog / writing index
In / Out — default Out in week one.
Contact form with backend
In / Out — mailto is a perfectly honest default.
Stripe / checkout
In / Out — if In, who owns the Stripe account today.
CMS for non-developer editing
In / Out — honest answer is usually Out for week one.
Analytics
Plausible / Fathom / GA4 / none. Pick one.
Sign-off
Two names, two dates. The brief is not law, but it is the only document that governs the week. Anything that is not on this page does not ship this week.
Client signature · date
Studio signature · date
Used with permission on any commercial project. If it saves you a week, send it on.