What to put in your travel website brief

A brief answers questions

In 2022 we wrote a brief for a travel comparison and booking site in Nepal. The test of a brief is that the designer can start without guessing.

You do not need to write it in a designer’s words. Answer the questions below in your own.

What should the site do for your business?

Name the one result that matters. Ours asked for visitors to compare trips, styles and costs, then book. A goal like that tells the designer what to put first on every page, and what can wait.

Who travels with you?

Describe the people who book, not everyone who might. Our brief said travellers from their mid-twenties to their mid-fifties: outgoing, watching what they spend, fond of nature, looking for adventure. Every choice after that, from the photos to the size of the text, is checked against those people.

What are the limits?

Say what the site must not do. Ours asked for little animation, simple and easy interactions, and nothing that needs heavy scripts.

Add the standard for colour and text. The 2022 brief specified WCAG 2.1, an accessibility standard. In a new brief, agree the applicable version and level, and how the team will check it.

How should it look and sound?

Words like modern and clean need an explanation. Say what makes yours different. Ours asked for a modern, minimal site with a Nepali feel. It wanted strong type, because the pages carry a lot of information, and the brand’s colours used boldly. It asked for plenty of photographs, and buttons that say plainly what they do.

What do you expect to receive?

Agree what the team will hand over and who will use it. Our brief asked for reusable components, phone layouts, complete form and button states, and notes for developers. These were delivery requirements, not a universal list for every website.

Photographs that represent the trip

In 2019 we gave a tour company advice more specific than high-quality photos:

• Choose trip photos that show the people, scenery and main attraction
• Private trips and group departures get photos of their own
• The photo feels like the trip: the bungee jump, the walk through a village, the boat on the lake at Pokhara, the plate of momo

Our note also warned that a shortened company name could confuse visitors. Tell the designer which name your travellers recognise.

Sections that help a traveller choose

When we redesigned that company’s home page, each new section answered a question a traveller asks:

• Is there a deal now? Offers for the season, with the saving stated
• What should I not miss? The signature trips, under their own heading
• Do I travel alone or with others? A choice between a private trip and a fixed departure
• Do real people go on these trips? A section of photos from Instagram

Choose the questions that fit your travellers, and add the information each section needs to answer them.