Working from a Client Brief - Best Practice

When you receive a new brief, preparation is key.

Before building, ask:

1. Do We Have the Right Template?

• Does an existing template support this page type?
• Does it meet layout expectations?
• The correct templates should be built before Authoring starts. It will be outlined in the client documentation what Template to use per page/ URL.

2. Do We Have the Right Components?

• Can we build the page using existing components?
• Are there required variations that don't exist?
• Again, all components should be built prior to authoring work starting and outlined in the documentation.

If new functionality is needed, this should be escalated early to design and development.

3. Is the Brief Complete?

Pre-flight checks. A Pre-Flight checklist will be supplied per project. It is up to the Authors to complete this checklist per brief/ page. This would include:

• Finalised copy
• Approved imagery
• CTA destinations confirmed
• SEO metadata provided
• Legal or compliance sign-off where required

Clarifying gaps early prevents rebuilds later. Below you will find a video run-through of the pre-flight checklist. This checklist is a real-life example used for a previous client.

Download Pre-flight Checklist

4. Content Governance

The sign-off process and workflow will be highlighted in the Client documentation so each author fully understands who should approve the page and when is the deadline to complete the page and all QA checks.

You should always get someone else to QA a page after initial build.