How to brief a developer so you actually get what you need

A vague brief produces a vague result, no matter how good the developer is. "I want a modern website" tells a builder almost nothing about what modern actually means to you, or what the site needs to do once it exists.

The briefs that lead to the best outcomes answer three questions before a single design decision gets made: who is this for, what should they be able to do once they're on it, and how will you know it worked. A school admin needs different answers than a hotel manager, even if both start with "I want a modern website."

It's fine to not have all of this figured out before the first conversation. That's what a discovery call is for. The point is to treat that conversation as the most important part of the project, not a formality before the real work starts.