Be careful what you ask for, is very sound advice, and this advice can be applied to almost anything, even when briefing your new website design agency to create a new website for you.

The consequences of the briefing can stay with you for some time, and the result of assumptions for the wrong focus can be costly to fix once you realize your new website does not work. When we do a Website Design, we always give our expertise, but in the end, it is important for us to also give our clients what they want.

Briefs normally go wrong for a very simple reason, the brief normally starts of focusing in the wrong place, and the list of requirements for a new Website Design is usually framed around "we need our website to....". The we in question is normally the business wanting a new Website Design. This is the normal mindset when agencies are briefed, but it can also be a completely wrong focus. If your new Website Design starts off with asking for the wrong things, don't be surprised if it does not deliver the ROI you hoped for.

Here is a better way of thinking about your new Website Design

A simple change in the way you think about your new Website Design and how you brief your new Website Design agency, can lead to a stronger ROI. Instead of thinking "we need to....", thing instead "our customers need to...". This simple shift in mind set can change the entire project.

If everything you ask for in your Website Design brief is based on what you believe your business needs, where does that leave your customers? Business goals matter, but you need your customers to reach your business goals. Having a clear understanding of the final results on your new Website Design, and in your business in general, will have many benefits.

Customers are your business

Your goals can only work through the behaviour of your customers. When you last briefed your Website Design agency, how much thought was put on your customers? What they want to do, what they may like, what may turn them off? Do you have reliable insights on these? The challenge of focusing on customer intent is that there are no shortcuts so there is no room for assumptions, generalisations and misplaced optimism and this can result in low conversion rates and poor returns. To understand your customer you need to place more effort in research and observation in how your customers react in what you are already doing. The benefit of going the extra mile is that your new Website Design will deliver better user experience (for the customer).

Already have a Website Design?

You and your new Website Design agency can learn a lot from your current website before dismantling it. The start of a new Website Design should always include investigation into the existing site to find its strengths and weaknesses before creating a new wireframe. If you alienate your existing customers, there is also a change they will leave, so a good balance between the old and new should be found.

So are you ready to brief your new Website Design agency?
• Can you clearly articulate what different users will want to do on your site?
• Do you know how you need to speak to your customers? Can you tell what they will want? This question will tell you a lot of what language to use and what imaged you need to engage and persuade them
• Are you perhaps able to list five things your customers most value or hate about your current site?
• Are you able to determine the end goal of your site? Do you want to sell a product, is it to give your clients more information?

If all of this sounds too difficult and you do not know where to start, contact your Website Design agency, Gotfunk and we will guide you in the right direction.