Most bad projects don’t fail because of bad design. They fail because the right questions weren’t asked in the first meeting. After a decade of taking briefs — and giving them — here’s the checklist we wish every client brought to their first call.
Ask about outcomes, not deliverables
A good studio talks about what the work needs to do before it talks about what it will look like. “We want a new website” tells us very little. “We want enquiries to double within six months” tells us everything.
Listen for how the studio responds to your goals. If they steer straight to moodboards, push gently back toward measures.
Ask who does the work
This is the question most people forget. Agencies can be brilliant, but the account manager you meet in the pitch may never touch your project. We’d ask:
- Who will design the work?
- Who will build it?
- Who do I speak to when something changes?
A small studio like ours is simpler to answer: the people in the room.
Ask about the process, written down
Process keeps the work honest. Ask to see their timeline, their stages, and their revision policy before you sign anything. A studio that resists writing it down is a studio that will improvise at your expense.
Ask what happens after launch
Launch day is the moment most studios wave goodbye. Your website and brand will need care: content updates, security patches, a bug fixed at 9am on a Tuesday.
Ask about support, retainers, and what handover materials you’ll receive. If the studio can’t name the last three clients they’ve supported, treat that as a warning.
Ask what they’ve said no to
This is our favourite question. A studio with strong opinions has turned down work — bad briefs, impossible deadlines, clients who wanted to copy a competitor. Hearing what they refused tells you more about their judgement than their portfolio ever will.
The uncomfortable truth about price
Good work costs more than cheap work and less than it saves you. The most expensive thing you can buy is a cheap website that quietly repels customers for three years.
The right question isn’t “how much?” — it’s “what does that include, and what will it achieve?”
Before you book the call
Write down three goals, your deadline, and your budget range. Be honest about all three. A studio that can’t deliver in your timeframe or price bracket should say so in the first meeting — and the ones that do are the ones worth working with.
If you’re in the middle of this process yourself, we’d be glad to have the conversation. Say hello and we’ll tell you straight whether we can help.