WebsiteDesignOutsource.com blog
A Hero Section Brief for Outsourced Website Design
How to give an outsourced website design team enough direction to design a useful hero without writing the layout for them.
The first screen of a page should answer who the page is for, what it helps with, and what a visitor can do next. A useful brief gives the outsourced website design team those decisions without prescribing every pixel.
State the promise carefully
Write the visitor problem and the page's honest outcome. Avoid broad claims that the company cannot support. If the hero needs a qualification, include it in the brief so the design does not make a promise the body cannot explain.
Provide content constraints
Give the approved heading, supporting sentence, action label, required links, and image direction. Note the longest expected heading and whether the action is primary or secondary. These details let the designer test wrapping and hierarchy before the page is polished.
Review the first screen in context
Check the hero on a narrow phone width and a larger screen. Ask whether the heading remains understandable, whether the action is visible, and whether the image supports the subject. Do not approve a desktop arrangement that depends on a short sample sentence.
Hand off the decision
Keep the final copy, selected asset, source location, and approval note together. If the hero changes later, the next reviewer can tell whether the change affects the page promise or only its presentation.
Test the promise above the fold
Read the heading, supporting sentence, image, and primary action without the rest of the page. A visitor should understand the audience and next step before scrolling. Then test a long business name, a translated phrase, and a narrow phone width; these cases reveal whether the hero depends on an unusually short sample or an image that carries meaning the copy never states.