Doing this more than once? Slashit saves your discovery questions as a snippet you drop into an email in one keystroke.
Use this in Slashit AppFree Discovery Questionnaire Generator
A ready-made discovery questionnaire covering the business, the project, the practicalities and their taste — the answers that save a fortnight of back and forth, and that tell you early whether a project is worth taking.
Built by Slashit · Last updated 27 September 2026
What is the discovery questionnaire generator?
A discovery questionnaire is the set of questions you ask a client before starting work. It covers their business and customers, what prompted the project now, what success looks like, the practical constraints — budget, deadline, who approves — and their taste. Answers to those questions save a fortnight of back and forth, and they tell you early whether a project is worth taking. The most valuable question is usually 'what made you start looking for help now?', because the answer explains what the project is really about, which is often not what the brief says.
How our free discovery questionnaire generator works
Name the client and the work
The questionnaire is framed for their project, so it does not read like a generic form.
Get the standard questions
Eleven or so questions about the business, the project and the practicalities, generated for you.
Add your own
Anything specific to your field goes in the extra questions section.
Send it before the call
Written answers first, conversation second. The call is then about the interesting parts.
What can you use the discovery questionnaire generator for?
Before a first paid engagement
Send it after the initial enquiry. The quality of the answers tells you a lot about what working together will be like.
A brief that feels thin
'Redesign our website' is not a brief. The questionnaire turns it into one.
A client who cannot describe what they want
Most people find questions easier than a blank page. Ask, do not wait for a brief.
Deciding whether to take a project
No budget, no deadline and no named decision-maker is a project that will consume more than it pays.
Who uses our free discovery questionnaire generator?
Designers and developers
Understand the business before making anything, rather than designing from a brief that was written in a hurry.
Consultants
Find out what has already been tried, which is usually the most informative answer you will get.
Agencies
Qualify and brief in one step, with a document the whole team can read.
Copywriters and marketers
Get the customer, the competitors and the one message straight before writing a word.
Why use the discovery questionnaire generator?
Asks why now
The question that reveals what the project is actually about — a lost customer, a funding round, a competitor launch.
Covers budget and approvals
Uncomfortable to ask on a call, straightforward to ask in a form.
Written answers you can keep
A record you can return to when a late request contradicts what was originally said.
Tips for getting the best results
Send it before the call, not instead of it
The form gets the facts. The conversation gets the things people will say but not write down.
Say rough answers are fine
Otherwise people put it off until they can answer perfectly, which is never.
Ask what has already been tried
It tells you what not to suggest, and often why the last attempt failed.
Keep it to around a dozen questions
A thirty-question form gets abandoned, and an abandoned form tells you nothing.
Frequently asked questions
What is a discovery questionnaire?
A short set of written questions sent to a client before work starts, covering their business, the project, the constraints and their preferences.
When should I send it?
After an initial enquiry and before the first proper call. The answers make the call far more useful.
How many questions should it have?
Around ten to fifteen. Enough to be useful, few enough to be answered in one sitting.
Should I ask about budget?
Yes, as a range. A client unwilling to name any range is either very early in their thinking or not ready to buy, and both are worth knowing now.
What if the client gives short answers?
That is information too. Follow up on the thin ones in conversation — and treat consistently vague answers as a sign the project is not yet real.
Can I reuse the same questionnaire for every client?
The core questions, yes. Add one or two specific to their industry or the particular job — it shows you read the enquiry.
