Write a client questionnaire that uncovers goals, budget, and fears

A designer who starts sketching before asking questions ends up designing for themselves. The questionnaire is how you stop guessing — it gets the client's goals, money and worries on paper before you ever open Figma, and it means the discovery call you'll run next lesson starts at question ten instead of question one.

Words in this lesson

Why a form before a conversation

You might think it's faster to just call the client and talk. It isn't. Two reasons:

People answer money questions more honestly in writing. A boutique owner in Yaba who would dodge "what's your budget?" on a call will type ₦150,000 into a form when nobody is watching her face.

It filters out time-wasters. A serious client will spend fifteen minutes on a form. Someone who wants a "quick logo" for ₦5,000 usually won't reply at all — and that's a free result for you.

The questionnaire also creates a paper trail. When the client says in month two "I never said I wanted it to look premium," you have her own words in question 9.

The four things you are digging for

Everything in your form should serve one of these:

Beginners always cover goals and facts. They skip fears, and that's where the pain comes from. A client who says "I just don't want it to look like a church programme" has handed you a rule that saves you a whole revision round.

Ask questions people can actually answer

The most common mistake is asking design questions to people who aren't designers.

Rule of thumb: if your mother-in-law couldn't answer the question, rewrite it.

The budget question, done properly

Never leave budget as an open text box. People either write nothing, or write a number they're afraid of. Give ranges and let them tick one:

What have you set aside for this branding project?
( ) Under ₦100,000
( ) ₦100,000 – ₦250,000
( ) ₦250,000 – ₦500,000
( ) ₦500,000 – ₦1,000,000
( ) Above ₦1,000,000
( ) I genuinely don't know yet — please advise

The last option matters. Some clients have money but no idea what branding costs, and if you force them to guess they'll guess low and then feel embarrassed to move up. "Please advise" gives you room to educate them on the call.

Add one follow-up: "Is this budget already approved, or still being discussed?" That single line tells you whether you're speaking to the decision-maker.

Digging out the fears

Fears are usually about reputation, money wasted, or a bad past experience. Ask them directly and warmly:

• "Have you worked with a designer before? How did it go?"
• "What would make you say, three months from now, that this project was a waste of money?"
• "Is there anything you're worried I'll get wrong?"
• "Are there any looks, colours or styles that are a hard no for you? (Religious, political, cultural — anything.)"

That last one is not optional in the Nigerian market. A fintech founder may not want green and white because it reads too governmental. A skincare brand targeting northern Nigeria may need to avoid certain imagery entirely. A restaurant may refuse red because a competitor down the street owns it. You will not guess these. Ask.

A questionnaire you can copy today

Keep it to 15–18 questions. Longer than that and people abandon it halfway.

SECTION 1 — THE BASICS
1. Business name (and how you want it spelled/capitalised)
2. What does the business actually sell or do? Explain it 
   like you're telling a friend.
3. How long have you been operating?
4. Website / Instagram / TikTok handles
5. Do you already have a logo or any brand materials? 
   (Please attach them.)

SECTION 2 — CUSTOMERS AND COMPETITION
6. Describe your best customer. Age, where they live, what 
   they do, what they spend.
7. Name two businesses you see as direct competitors.
8. Why does someone choose you over them?
9. Name two brands (any industry) whose look you admire, 
   and say why.

SECTION 3 — GOALS
10. What do you want this branding to help you achieve in 
    the next 12 months?
11. If your business were a person, how should people 
    describe them after meeting?
12. Where will this brand appear most? (Instagram, shop 
    signage, packaging, delivery bikes, invoices...)

SECTION 4 — MONEY AND TIME
13. What have you set aside for this project? [ranges]
14. Is this budget approved, or still under discussion?
15. Is there a date this needs to be ready for? 
    What's happening on that date?
16. Who else has to approve the final designs?

SECTION 5 — FEARS
17. Have you worked with a designer before? How did it go?
18. Any styles, colours or imagery that are a hard no?

Question 16 is quietly the most valuable one on the form. "My husband" or "my elder brother who owns 40% of the business" is information you need on day one, not after you present three concepts.

Delivering it so people actually fill it

Google Forms is free and works on any phone. Set it up so:

• The form is mobile-first — most Nigerian clients will fill it on a phone, standing in traffic.
• Only 4–5 questions are marked required. Forcing every field makes people quit.
• You enable file upload for existing logos (requires them to be signed into Google — mention it).
• Responses come to your email so you can review before the call.

Send it on WhatsApp with a short message, not a bare link:

Good afternoon ma. Thank you for reaching out. Before our call, please fill this short form — it takes about 12 minutes and helps me come to the call with real ideas instead of generic questions. [link]

If they haven't filled it in three days, one polite nudge. If still nothing after a week, that tells you something about how the whole project would have gone.

What to do with the answers

Don't just read them. Before the call, mark up every response with three symbols:

• ? — vague, needs pushing on the call ("we want to look professional")
• ! — a contradiction (budget of ₦80,000 but wants packaging, signage and a website)
• * — a gold nugget you'll build the brand around ("my customers call me the auntie who never sells fake")

Those marked answers become the agenda for your discovery call — which is exactly what we build in the next lesson.

Common mistakes

The short version

• A designer who sketches before asking designs for themselves.
• The form comes before the conversation, so the call can be spent on why rather than what.
• Dig for four things: goals, money, the customer, and the fears.
• Ask questions the client can actually answer — in their words, not design vocabulary.
• Ask budget as a range. People answer ranges and dodge blank numbers.
• Make it easy to fill in, or it won't be.

Try it yourself

Build the form. Pick a real small business you know — your barber, a cousin's catering business, the POS operator at your junction — and set up the questionnaire in Google Forms with your own wording, not a straight copy of mine.

Then send it to that business owner for real. Don't tell them it's a class exercise; frame it as you offering to look at their branding.

When the answers come back, note two things: which question they skipped, and which answer surprised you. Those two data points will teach you more about writing questionnaires than reading another ten of them.

Bring the completed responses to the next lesson — you'll be running a discovery call on top of them.

You'll know you've got it when the answers surprise you at least once — that's the sign you were asking rather than assuming.