Many Web designers don't hesitate to sign clients or agree to Web design projects before they understand what they are. But if you use a questionnaire similar to this project request form, you'll have a better idea of who your clients are and what they want and can afford. This reduces confusion and disappointment on both sides. And a happy client will come back to you for more work.
Contact Information
The most obvious information you should collect is their contact information. Things like:
- Name
- Email address
- Telephone number
Remember that many companies may have more than one person working on the project, so be sure to get the contact information for everyone involved. But you should always find out who has final design approval and who has final contract signing approval.
Project Budget
Be up front about asking how much they have to spend. Chances are they will give you a range that is lower than they actually have allocated for the project, but don't assume that. This can also give you an idea about how realistic they are regarding the costs involved in designing a website.
Information About the Company
Get information about their existing site if they have one, or their company in general. By learning the products/services they sell, their customers, competitors, and so on, you will know more about the tone for the design you do.
- Company name
- Company address
- Company website URL
- Their products or services
- Their ideal customer
- Their primary competitors
Information About the Project
Get an idea of what they are looking for. Is it a redesign or a whole new site? Is it a part of an existing site and brand or is a new branding effort involved? Will you need to provide content or do SEO work as well as design? Are there existing style guides that you'll need to work with?
- Timeframe
- Redesign or new site
- Give a short description of the project
- What existing websites look good to them or are there samples you should emulate
- Is there an existing color scheme?
- Is there an existing branding effort to follow?
- Who will provide graphics?
- Who will provide content?
- Is SEO work required?
- Is programming required?
- Any additional design details
