If you’ve ever been working in a team, you know how important it is to be on the same page with other tea members. Ensuring every person understands things correctly is what makes your cooperation smooth and effective and the project you work on successful. This is exactly what a design brief mission is. This document is the basis for a partnership between a client and the executive team.
Unfortunately, only some small and middle businesses apply this practice in their interaction with people involved in their digital product design development. Probably this is one of the explanations for why so many good ideas fail to be implemented into a profitable business. Anyway, now you know that you shouldn’t repeat other people’s mistakes.
You have every chance to do things right and get the result you’ve envisioned for yourself with our design brief example https://arounda.agency/blog/design-brief-example-how-it-should-look-like-and-what-it-should-contain
What Is a Design Brief? Explaining the Basics
The name design brief is referred to the document aimed at delivering the ideas of the client to the team of executives who are going to implement the project into life. Why is it so important to have one?
Here are some reasons: it sets distinct product requirements so that the client’s expectations are met in full; it allows for a common vision of the final product by both parties; bringing in a design brief is an effective way to boost your business indicators; it helps to sort things out for every team member and makes the onboarding process easier; it defines business goals to achieve.
Source: maze.co
Some companies consider a design brief a waste of time but look how many issues it resolves even before you get down to the actual development of a digital project. So, in perspective, incorporating this practice pays off completely.
Writing a Design Brief: Who Should Do This?
Taking into account that a design brief comes in handy for both parties involved in the development of a digital project design, either side can have their design brief. Still, it typically comes from the executive team as they need it to enhance their effectiveness, minimize the risks they will have to redo something, and just need sufficient information about the company and the product they are going to work with.
The brief is typically sent to the client for completion. In most cases, the executive team member will help fill it in, though some customers prefer doing this on their own. Anyway, once the document is ready, the manager analyses the information provided and if needed, specifies the details and asks for some additional information.
The final version of the document should be agreed upon by both the client and the executives to ensure they are on the same page.
What Should It Include? An Example of a Design Brief
A design brief is a complex document aiming to reveal the maximum information about the company and its product to the executive team. Therefore, the clarification of some points is essential here. We’ve outlined some basic points that should be present in your design brief.
Knowing the Company
Source: job-hunt.org
It’s hard to work on any project if you know nothing about the company that is going to introduce it to the market. Therefore, collecting this kind of information should be your first step. Here’s what you should figure out in this section of your design brief: The name of the company as well as any brand that can be used to denote it.
A contact person’s phone and email. They will be the chain connecting the client and the executive party. Time zone is worth mentioning to make your communication more effective. This is especially important for those working from different countries and time zones. Company size/development stage also plays a role in product development. The mission, vision, and values of the company.
The product design should reflect all those, so it’s essential to know this.
Knowing the Product
How can you create anything not knowing what it should be? That’s impossible! And this is the reason you should get all information about the product. Below you’ll find the details to specify in the design brief. Its name and brief description for the executive team to know what they are going to deal with. Industry specification. For an average person, this information may not play any role.
But digital product design has some peculiarities depending on the industry the project represents. So whether it is healthcare, finance, or anything else, make sure you point that out. The geography of business. Cultural differences between the countries may have a significant impact on what the product design should be.
Source: shopify.com
Otherwise, it won’t reach the goals you set. Business model. Knowing this aspect of your business makes it easier for the design team to do their job. How is your product unique? Knowing the strengths of the product and understanding how it is different from those of the competitors will create guidelines for the executives to show your product in the best light.
Target audience. Knowing your customer is halfway to success. Competitors. By analyzing their benefits and drawbacks, you’ll be able to avoid making the same mistakes and take advantage of the features in high demand.
Knowing the Style
Can anyone work on a digital product design without knowing your preferences about the style? We guess not. Here’s what a typical design brief will ask you to share on this point: Brand identity, which involves colors, fonts, logos, and anything specific to your brand.
References. If you like some style and want your product to match it, it’s a good idea to give a list of references for the designers to understand your vision precisely. Colors you prefer and colors to avoid. Website content. This should be added to the brief for the executives to incorporate into the final product. Graphic or media content you want to see in your app or website.
Bottom Line
Filling in a design brief is one of the most important things to do at the preparatory stage. The more details you include there, the fewer questions will arise later. So feel free to add any other information that can make your cooperation more effective and efficient.
