Review templates for proposals

Osama Abdelnaser
3 min readJul 24, 2023

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When you work as a freelance UX designer, potential clients who are impressed by your designs might send you a request for proposal, an official document that outlines project requirements. Or, they may submit an informal request to establish a working relationship with you. Gaining new clients is an exciting chance to practice your design skills. But, before diving into the creating a product, you should respond by sending a proposal.

A proposal outlines your approach to successfully delivering the work a client has requested. These documents are important for establishing an effective working relationship between you and your client. Your proposal also helps to instill confidence in your ability to do the work on time and on budget, while meeting the project objectives. In this reading, you’ll learn about the various materials you might encounter as a freelance UX designer.

Sections of a proposal

While proposals may be worded differently, there are four sections that are necessary: a statement of work, project timeline, budget estimate, and payment schedule. Here’s what each of those provides to a client.

  1. Statement of Work: A legally binding document that includes a list of detailed deliverables, their due dates, and a payment schedule
  2. Project Timeline: A list of dates for expected milestones in the development of the project
  3. Budget estimate: Details the expenses and profit margins that add up to an appropriate cost for your services
  4. Payment schedule: A list of expected payment dates and any upfront costs and contingencies

Proposals may also include an introduction to you as a designer, your design process divided into phases, and specific payment terms.

Start with templates

While working with a new client, you want to make sure that each of the sections of the proposal is addressed in detail. To do this, many designers choose to use templates to ensure that everything is accounted for and to expedite the proposal process.

To help you develop your own proposal, start with the statement of work template and budget spreadsheet template provided here:

To see the completed exemplar for this course item, click the link below and select “Use Template.”

Link to exemplar: statement of work template

OR

If you don’t have a Google account, you can download the exemplar directly from the attachment below.

To see the completed exemplar for this course item, click the link below and select “Use Template.”

Google UX Design Certificate — Statement of Work (SoW) [Template]

DOCX File

Link to exemplar: budget spreadsheet template

OR

If you don’t have a Google account, you can download the exemplar directly from the attachment below.

Google UX Design Certficate — Budget Spreadsheet [Template]

XLSX File

You may decide to follow the design of the template or customize it to fit your personal branding.

In this fictional mock example of a UX Proposal, a designer named John Williams has created a proposal for a shoe company called The Heel Toe Sneaker Company. The Heel Toe Sneaker Company is seeking an app for the launch of a new fashion line. This proposal includes a(n):

  • Title page
  • Introduction
  • Statement of Work
  • List of assumptions and dependencies
  • Design process outline
  • Timeline
  • Budget
  • Payment Schedule
  • Acceptance page

Remember, this proposal is only an example. As you explore this proposal, think about how you can modify your own proposal to meet the needs of your own UX design projects.

Sources: Google UX Design Professional Certificate

Coursera | Design a User Experience for Social Good & Prepare for Jobs

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