Client discovery questionnaire for web and app projects

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What questions should a client discovery questionnaire include?

A client discovery questionnaire for web and app projects should cover seven areas: business goals, users, features, content and data, design, technical needs and integrations, and budget and timeline. Ask open questions, write the answers down in the client's own words, and turn them into a written spec. The 28 questions below are grouped by area and ready to copy.

A good discovery call feels like a conversation, but the best ones follow a plan. Without one, it is easy to spend forty minutes on design preferences and never ask who will write the content or whether the launch date is fixed. Those gaps come back later as surprises.

This questionnaire gives you that plan. Use it as a form the client fills in before the call, as a checklist during the call, or both. The questions are written for website and app projects run by agencies and freelancers, and they map directly onto the sections of a spec.

The questionnaire (28 questions)

Copy the plain-text version of these client discovery questions into an email, a form or your call notes. They are grouped in the order that works best on a call: start with the business, finish with budget and timeline.

client-discovery-questionnaire.txt
CLIENT DISCOVERY QUESTIONNAIRE (web and app projects)
Project: ______________________   Client: ______________________   Date: __________

BUSINESS GOALS
1. What does your business do, and who are your customers?
2. What problem should this project solve for you?
3. How will you know it worked? What would you measure?
4. Why now? Is there an event or deadline behind this project?

USERS
5. Who will use the website or app? List each type of user.
6. What does each type of user need to get done?
7. Will people need an account, or can they do everything without signing in?
8. Which devices will they mostly use: phone, desktop or both?

FEATURES
9. What must be ready on launch day?
10. What would be nice to have but can wait for a later phase?
11. Have you seen something on another site or app that you want, or want to avoid?
12. Do you need to take payments, bookings or orders?
13. Who on your team will run it day to day, and what will they need to change themselves?

CONTENT AND DATA
14. Which pages or screens do you expect to have?
15. Who will write and supply the text, images and video?
16. What information needs to be stored, for example customers, orders or bookings?
17. Is there existing data to move over from another system?

DESIGN
18. Do you have a brand guide, logo, colors and fonts?
19. Name two or three sites you like, and say what you like about each one.
20. How should it feel: formal, friendly, bold, minimal or something else?
21. Are there accessibility needs we should plan for?

TECHNICAL AND INTEGRATIONS
22. Do you already have a domain and hosting?
23. Which tools must it connect to, for example email, payments, a CRM or a calendar?
24. Are there security, privacy or legal requirements, for example cookie consent or where data is stored?
25. Who will look after the site or app once it is live?

BUDGET AND TIMELINE
26. What budget range have you set aside?
27. When do you need it live, and is that date fixed?
28. Who makes the final decision and signs off the scope?

Step by step

  1. 1

    Send it before the call

    Share the questionnaire a day or two before the discovery call as a client discovery form. Clients who answer in advance arrive with clearer thinking, and you can spend the call on the answers that need discussion.

  2. 2

    Use it as your guide on the call

    Keep the questions open in front of you and work through the areas in order. Let the conversation wander, then come back to any area you have not covered.

  3. 3

    Capture answers in the client's words

    Write down what the client actually says, not your summary of it. Their phrasing tells you what matters to them, and it makes the spec easier for them to approve.

  4. 4

    Follow up on vague answers

    An answer like we want it to look modern is a starting point, not a requirement. Ask for an example site or two, and ask what they like about each.

  5. 5

    Turn the answers into a spec

    Each area of the questionnaire maps onto a section of the spec: goals, users, features, data, UI direction, out of scope and open questions. The meeting transcript to PRD guide shows how.

  6. 6

    Confirm the scope in writing

    Send the spec back to the client for approval before you quote or start work. Questions they could not answer on the call become open questions in the spec.

Why a client discovery questionnaire beats an open chat

An unstructured client discovery call tends to follow the client's enthusiasm, which is usually the visible parts: the homepage, the colors, a feature they saw on a competitor's site. The questions that decide whether the project is profitable (content, data, integrations, who signs off) only come up if you ask them.

A questionnaire makes sure every project gets the same coverage, whoever runs the call. It also gives you a record of what the client said, which is the raw material for the spec and your best protection against scope creep later.

Discovery call questions for web design projects

If the project is a marketing website rather than an app, these are the questions to ask a client before building a website that most often get skipped:

  • Who will write and supply the content, and by when?
  • Which pages must exist on launch day, and which can wait?
  • Is there an existing site with pages, links or search rankings to keep?
  • Do you actually need accounts, a shop or bookings, or is a contact form enough?
  • Who will update the site after launch, and what will they need to edit?

For a full structure to put the answers into, use the website requirements document template.

Capture the answers on the call, so the questionnaire becomes the spec

The weak point of any questionnaire is the step after the call, when someone has to turn scribbled answers into a document. Answers get paraphrased, asides get lost, and the spec arrives days later.

TaskyTrack closes that gap. Send our note-taker to the call with a meeting link, or paste the transcript afterwards, and the AI PRD generator turns the answers into a structured spec: features, data, UI direction, assumptions and open questions. You review it, send it to the client, and the questionnaire you asked from becomes the scope you build from.

Key takeaways

  • Cover all seven areas on every call: goals, users, features, content and data, design, technical, and budget and timeline.
  • Write answers down in the client's own words, and chase vague answers with examples.
  • Turn the answers into a spec and get it approved before you quote.

Frequently asked

What should a client discovery questionnaire include?

Questions on business goals, users, features, content and data, design, technical needs and integrations, and budget and timeline. The 28 questions on this page cover all seven areas.

Should I send the questionnaire before the call or use it during the call?

Both work. Sending it as a client discovery form before the call gives the client time to think, and the call then focuses on the answers that need discussion. Using it live as a checklist makes sure nothing gets skipped.

How long should a client discovery call be?

Most website and app discovery calls take 45 to 90 minutes. If you cannot cover all seven areas in that time, schedule a short follow-up rather than guessing the missing answers.

What questions should I ask a client before building a website?

Beyond goals and design, ask who supplies the content, which pages are needed at launch, whether an existing site needs redirects, whether accounts or payments are really needed, and who will update the site after launch.

How do I turn discovery answers into a spec?

Map each area onto a section of the spec: goals, users, features, data, UI direction, out of scope, assumptions and open questions. TaskyTrack can draft the spec from the call transcript, which you then review and send for approval.

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