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What are Design Briefs?

In user experience (UX), design briefs—also known as creative briefs—are comprehensive documents that outline a design project's objectives, target audience and constraints. Designers use them as roadmaps to understand user needs, pain points and business goals. They analyze briefs to create user personas, prototypes and more, to ensure the final product aligns with user expectations in successful digital products.

An image of a design creative brief for a mobile app for fitness enthusiasts..

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

Table of contents
  1. What are Design Briefs?
  2. Why are UX Design Briefs Important?
  3. What are the Components of a Design Brief?
    1. 1. Brand and Project Overview
    2. 2. Design Requirements and Deliverables
    3. 3. Target Audience
    4. 4. Competitor Analysis
    5. 5. Design Goals and Objectives
    6. 6. Budget and Timeline
  4. Who Creates a Design Brief and How?
    1. 1. Understand the Purpose 
    2. 2. Provide Background Information
    3. 3. Outline Design Specifications
    4. 4. Set Expectations
    5. 5. Call to Action
  5. What are the Benefits of UX Design Briefs?
    1. 1. Align Stakeholders
    2. 2. Streamline the Design Process
    3. 3. Avoid Miscommunication
  6. Best Practices for Designers to Use Design Briefs
    1. 1. Collaborate with Clients
    2. 2. Ensure Well-Defined, Clear Goals and Objectives
    3. 3. Regularly Review and Update the Brief
  7. Special Considerations and Potential Risks of UX Design Briefs
    1. 1. Beware of Scope Creep
    2. 2. Know How to Manage Client Expectations
    3. 3. Ensure Accurate and Complete Information
    4. 4. Remember Legal and Ethical Considerations
  8. Learn More about Design Briefs
  9. Questions about Design Briefs

Why are UX Design Briefs Important?

Design briefs outline the scope, scale and core details of an upcoming design project; that applies to both UX design and user interface (UI) design. Briefs are powerful design tools since they guide the overall workflow—from conception to completion. They serve not just as a roadmap for designers but as a critical bridge between the client's aspirations and the designer's creativity also. This alignment ensures that every stroke of genius contributes to aesthetic appeal—plus, that it propels the project towards its strategic goals, from the earliest wireframes to the final deliverables.

Watch our video about wireframing to understand more about this design activity:

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    Wireframing is like creating a blueprint for a website or app. Imagine you want to build a house before the builders start. An architect draws a simple sketch showing where the rooms will be, where the doors and windows go, and how everything connects in the same way when making a website or app. Wireframing is the first step. It's a basic, no frills outline of how the pages will screens will look. It helps designers and developers plan with things will be placed like buttons, images and text. It's not about the colors or fancy details.

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    It's more about the structure and layout, like arranging the rooms in a house. Wireframes help make sure everything fits together well before the actual building or coding begins. Creating a wireframe during a UX project involves several steps. Understand goals, know the project goals, and user needs. Sketch ideas roughly sketch layouts on paper or digitally create low fidelity wireframes. Use a tool to make simple grayscale wireframes showing basic structure and placement.

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    Get feedback, share wireframes. Gather feedback and make adjustments. Refine and iterate. Make improvements based on feedback. Focusing on functionality. Create high fidelity wireframes and colors. Fonts and images for a more detailed look. Test and validate. Conduct usability testing and refine further. Finally, ease and hand off complete high fidelity wireframes and handoff to the design and development teams. Wireframing helps to plan and visualize a user friendly design before diving into the details.

One particularly vital function of a UX or UI design brief is that it provides a detailed description of the project—and that includes context, background and measurable objectives. This helps all team members understand the client's brand and the project's intended impact. A brief starts with the rationale behind the need for a new digital interactive design like a website or mobile app. This details how the proposed product or service is going to benefit the target audience as well as advance the brand's voice within the competitive landscape.

An image showing a logo design brief.

This is an example of a logo design brief, a core part of product or service branding.

© Nuclino, Fair Use

What are the Components of a Design Brief?

The effectiveness of a design brief lies in its components—which include these:

1. Brand and Project Overview

This section gives an overview of the client's business and the project. It offers as much context as it can to make sure everyone's on the same page.

2. Design Requirements and Deliverables

A brief specifies the needed design elements—such as layout, colors, images and fonts. This quality helps visual designers avoid multiple revisions and ensure the project goes in line with the client's expectations. For instance, a design brief may have typographical stipulations which a design team would need to follow for brand consistency.

Author, Designer and Educator, Mia Cinelli explains important design aspects about typography:

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    How do Gestalt Principles apply to typography? This is really important to note, that continuation is essential for typography because I see this all the time where designers want to be clever. And here on the left-hand side, we have some right-aligned and left-aligned type which are living back to back, and we know from the hue structure that we're intended to read this as 'Back To School Sale', but this is not how we're going to read it. Because of continuation, we are following a baseline, as this example in Latin text.

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    So, we don't read 'Back To School Sale'; we read 'Back School To Sale', which completely disrupts the message. So, instead of doing something like this, think through continuation. The example on the right-hand side makes way more sense and will not disrupt our legibility or readability because we're following continuation, thinking about that baseline. And continuation can also create a beautiful implied motion. So, here we can use this in a really expressive way, following this line. 'They gracefully descend the stairs to arrive at the party.'

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    That adds just a little bit more social meaning for us.
  

3. Target Audience

A good design brief reflects strong UX research about the target users. It’s a crucial point to understand the client's target audience—to make informed design decisions that resonate with these intended users. Brands and designers make use of user personas. These help shape their understanding of their users’ and customers’ expectations, needs, pain points and more.

Author and Human-Computer Interaction Expert, Professor Alan Dix explains the importance of personas in UX design:

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    Personas are one of these things that gets used  in very, very many ways during design. A persona is a rich description or description of a user. It's similar in some sense, to an example user, somebody that you're going to talk about. But it usually is not a particular person. And that's for sometimes reasons of confidentiality.

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    Sometimes it's you want to capture about something slightly more generic than the actual user you talked to, that in some ways represents the group, but is still particular enough  that you can think about it. Typically, not one persona, you usually have  several personas. We'll come back to that.   You use this persona description, it's  a description of the example user,   in many ways during design. You can ask  questions like "What would Betty think?"

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    You've got a persona called / about Betty, "what would  Betty think" or "how would Betty feel about using this aspect of the system? Would Betty understand this? Would Betty be able to do this?"   So we can ask questions by letting those personas  seed our understanding, seed our imagination.   Crucially, the details matter here. You want to make the persona real. So what we want to do is take this  persona, an image of this example user,   and to be able to ask those questions: will  this user..., what will this user feel about  

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    this feature? How will this user use this system  in order to be able to answer those questions?  It needs to seed your imagination well enough.  It has to feel realistic enough to be able to   do that. Just like when you read that book  and you think, no, that person would never   do that. You've understood them well enough that  certain things they do feel out of character. You need to understand the character of your  persona.

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    For different purposes actually, different levels of detail are useful. So I'm going to sort of start off with   the least and go to the ones which I think are  actually seeding that rich understanding.  So at one level, you can just look at your  demographics. You're going to design for warehouse   managers, maybe. For a new system that goes into  warehouses. So you look at the demographics, you might have looked at their age. It might be that on the whole that they're   older. Because they're managers, the older end. So  there's only a small number under 35. The majority  

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    are over 35, about 50:50 between those who are in  the sort of slightly more in the older group.  So that's about 40 percent of them in  the 35 to 50 age group, and about half   of them are older than 50. So on the whole  list, sort of towards the older end group.   About two thirds are male, a third are female.  Education wise, the vast majority have not got   any sort of further education beyond school. About 57 percent we've got here are school.  

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    We've got a certain number that have done basic  college level education and a small percentage   of warehouse managers have had a university  education. That's some sense of things.   These are invented, by the way, I should say, not  real demographics. Did have children at home. The people, you might have got this from some big  survey or from existing knowledge of the world,   or by asking the employer that you're  dealing with to give you the statistics.   So perhaps about a third of them have got children  at home, but two thirds of them haven't. 

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    And what about disability? About three  quarters of them have no disability whatsoever.   About one quarter do. Actually, in society  it's surprising. You might... if you think   of disability in terms of major disability,  perhaps having a missing limb or being   completely blind or completely deaf. Then you start relatively small numbers.   But if you include a wider range of disabilities,  typically it gets bigger. And in fact can become  

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    very, very large. If you include, for  instance, using corrective vision with   glasses, then actually these numbers  will start to look quite small.  Within this, in whatever definition they've  used, they've got up to about 17 percent with   the minor disability and about eight percent  with a major disability. So far, so good. So now, can you design for a  warehouse manager given this? Well,  

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    you might start to fill in examples for  yourself. So you might sort of almost like   start to create the next stage. But it's hard. So let's look at a particular user profile. Again,   this could be a real user, but let's imagine  this as a typical user in a way. So here's Betty Wilcox. So she's here as a typical user.  And in fact, actually, if you look at her, she's   on the younger end. She's not necessarily the  only one, you usually have several of these.  And she's female as well. Notice only up to  a third of our warehouse ones are female. So  

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    she's not necessarily the center one. We'll come  back to this in a moment, but she is an example user. One example user. This might have been  based on somebody you've talked to, and then you're sort of abstracting in a way. So, Betty Wilcox. Thirty-seven, female, college education. She's got children at home, one's  seven, one's 15. And she does have a minor disability, which is in her left hand. And  it's there's slight problem in her left hand.  

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    Can you design, can you ask, what would Betty  think? You're probably doing a bit better at   this now. You start to picture her a bit. And you've probably got almost like an image   in your head as we talk about  Betty. So it's getting better.   So now let's go to a different one. You know, this  is now Betty. Betty is 37 years old. She's been a   warehouse manager for five years and worked for  Simpkins Brothers Engineering for 12 years. She didn't go to university, but has studied  in her evenings for a business diploma.

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    That was her college education. She has two children  aged 15 and seven and does not like to work late.   Presumably because we put it  here, because of the children.   But she did part of an introductory  in-house computer course some years ago.   But it was interrupted when she was promoted,  and she can no longer afford to take the time.   Her vision is perfect, but a left hand movement,  remember from the description a moment ago,   is slightly restricted because of an  industrial accident three years ago. 

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    She's enthusiastic about her work and  is happy to delegate responsibility   and to take suggestions from the staff. Actually,  we're seeing somebody who is confident in her   overall abilities, otherwise she wouldn't  be somebody happy to take suggestions.   If you're not competent, you don't. We sort of see that, we start to see a   picture of her. However, she does feel threatened  – simply, she is confident in general – but she   does feel threatened by the introduction of  yet another computer system. The third since she's been working at Simpkins Brothers. So now, when we think about that, do you have a better vision of Betty?

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    Do you feel you might be in a position to start talking about..."Yeah, if I design this sort of feature, is this something that's going to work with Betty? Or not"? By having a rich  description, she becomes a person. Not just a set of demographics. But then you  can start to think about the person, design for the person and use that rich human understanding you have in order to create a better design.

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    So it's an example of a user, as I said not  necessarily a real one. You're going to use this as a surrogate and these details really, really matter. You want Betty to be real to   you as a designer, real to your clients as you  talk to them. Real to your fellow designers  as you talk to them. To the developers around  you, to different people. Crucially, though, I've already said this, there's not just one. You usually want several different personas because the users you deal with are all different.

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    You know, we're all different. And the user group – it's warehouse managers – it's quite a relatively narrow and constrained set of users, will all be different. Now, you can't have one persona for every user,   but you can try and spread. You can look at the range of users.   So now that demographics picture I gave,  we actually said, what's their level of education? That's one way to look at that range. You can think of it as a broad range of users.

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    The obvious thing to do is to have the absolute  average user. So you almost look for them:   "What's the typical thing? Yes, okay." In my  original demographics the majority have no college   education, they were school educated only. We said that was your education one,   two thirds of them male – I'd have gone for  somebody else who was male. Go down the list, bang   in the centre. Now it's useful to have that center  one, but if that's the only person you deal with,   you're not thinking about the range. But certainly you want people who in some sense  

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    cover the range, that give you a sense  of the different kinds of people.   And hopefully also by having several, reminds  you constantly that they are a range and have   a different set of characteristics, that there  are different people, not just a generic user.
  

4. Competitor Analysis

Design briefs can contain valuable insights about what competitors are already doing in the market—including aspects such as design successes and failures. These can serve as vital barometer readings for the market environment a brand proposes to launch its design solution into.

5. Design Goals and Objectives

Clearly defined goals and objectives help distinguish between the overall purpose of the project and the measurable steps to achieve success.

6. Budget and Timeline

It’s critical to outline the project budget and timeline—to manage client expectations and ensure the project remains on track with complete transparency.

An illustration of seven small circles around a big one to represent seven elements of a design brief with Elements of a design brief text in the big circle.

Elements of a design brief.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

Who Creates a Design Brief and How?

Here's a breakdown of the key contributors to the creation of a design brief:

  1. Client or project manager: The client or the project manager is usually the driving force behind the design brief. They provide essential information like the project goals, target audience, budget and timelines.

  1. Key stakeholders: Input from key stakeholders—such as marketing teams, product managers and end users—is a vital ingredient to create a comprehensive design brief. Their insights help designers understand the specific needs and expectations that relate to the design project.

  1. Design team: The design team—including UX/UI designers and other relevant professionals—also plays a role as far as shaping the design brief goes. Their expertise and understanding of design requirements contribute to the brief's overall content.

Design Director at Société Générale CIB, Morgane Peng explains important aspects of how some stakeholders may view design-related topics: 

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    I've been talking to a lot of people in agencies, startups, even from the GAFAs, to Google, to Apple, et cetera. And I realized that we share the same frustrations – from people who don't get design. They may sound familiar. We'll see. The first one is, 'Can you make it *pretty*?'; 'Can you do the 'UX' (whatever it is)?'; and, 'Can you add this *wow* effect?'

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    And if you're like me – so, this is me – when you hear that, you would cringe. And I've heard them a lot. Because what we really want to hear is... 'Can you make it *usable*?'; 'Can *we* do the UX *together*?'; And the last one: 'Can you *tell me what's broken*?'
 

To write good design briefs, brands typically need to:

1. Understand the Purpose 

  • Define the project: Clearly outline the scope of the project—that includes the deliverables and the problem the design should solve.

  • Establish objectives: Specify the goals and objectives the design should achieve. Among these could be to raise brand awareness, improve user experience or launch a new product.

2. Provide Background Information

  • Brand overview: Give a brief overview of the brand—as well as its values and its target audience.

  • Market analysis: Share insights about the market, competitors and any design assets that already exist.

3. Outline Design Specifications

  • Functional requirements: Specify any technical or functional requirements that the design needs to have.

  • Aesthetic guidelines: Communicate the desired look and feel—that includes any specific brand guidelines or design preferences.

  • Messaging and tone: Define the messaging and the tone that the design needs to convey.

Professor Alan Dix explains important aspects about design requirements: 

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    Users: obviously the heart of what  we're doing as interaction designers.   So how do we catch this user focus? We  need to know who they are. Who are our users? Are they at home in the office? Are they people with university degrees? Are they people who are older, people who are younger? There's lots of different kinds of users. Who are they?

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    Do you know who they are?  Do you know the details of the way in which they they live their lives or they do that work? What do they do? And that's not an easy question. Sometimes it's obvious, they're changing  their heating controller. They're creating a video. But what do they really do? What are the details of it? And where are they? What's the context they're working  in? This is about requirements, the needs for use. Understanding the users, understanding where they're at.

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    That's at the heart. If you can't understand that, you'll  not being able to actually design for them.   One crucial thing about who they are is they're  probably not like you. And it is very hard to   get your head into somebody else's head.  In fact, you probably shouldn't try to   get your head into somebody else's head. You try to understand what's in their head,   not what you put there. So how are you going to  do it? They're probably not like you. So you need to talk to them. And that's true of all sorts of users. You might talk to people as individuals.

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    You might talk as groups, just trying to  understand what makes them tick. What are the   ways in which they think? What are their desires? What are their goals? Watch them, because actually sometimes we're not good at actually saying what we do. Sometimes when we see somebody or when somebody watches what we do, they notice things about it we would never have known ourselves. It's particularly true of expert behaviors. Things that we're so good at we don't even know we're doing them. And that could be true of verbal things,

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    that can be true of physical things. Often in sports. It's when you filmed somebody, the trainer can say, "Oh, you need to stretch your leg a little  bit tighter when you get to this point   on the track" or "slow down here". When you're in the midst of doing the activity, it's not possible. It's only when it gets watched that things go on. Sometimes you have to use your imagination.  And this is a problem, because we can just  

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    imagine ourselves and not fully understand  it. You should use your imagination   informed by what you observe when you talk to people. But sometimes you might have to deal   with situations where you can't actually  be there. You probably can't hitch a lift   up to the International Space Station  in order to do some design up there.   You can talk to people who've been there. You can perhaps get video footage of what's   happening there. But you probably will not be able  to go there yourself. So sometimes you have to use an element of imagination.

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    Some of your users  might be people who are difficult to access. They might be doing very... perhaps CEOs of  companies, if you're designing for those you   probably are not going to get 10 CEOs together  for a focus group. At most, you might get   people who work closely with them. You might get one or two to talk to,   but probably you're going to have to do a lot  from secondary sources. So sometimes you have   to use your imagination. What you can do is use  your direct knowledge in order to inform that.

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    And there's techniques particularly that  can help you do that business. Personas, which are about capturing descriptions, rich  descriptions of individuals. Cultural probes, which are about putting things into people's context so that they can tell you or you get   some information on what they're doing. Technology  probes, you create a piece of technology, a  piece of a system that you can deploy and learn  from. And then embodying that into scenarios, rich stories of what's going on.

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    And particularly trying to understand the context, the broader context that people are in. So lots of things that you should be starting to think about in order to build those rich understandings of people's situations in ways that can then inform your imagination. Which in the end, you're going to probably have to use in order to create novel designs. And perhaps also in order to communicate the knowledge you've got to other people

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    within your  organization, within your design context.
 

4. Set Expectations

  • Timeline and budget: Clearly state the timeline for the project and the budget constraints—if any.

  • Revision and approval process: Outline the process for revisions and approvals so as to manage the expectations.

Part 1 of 2 of a list titled Design process & timeline for UX and UI
Part 2 of 2 of a list titled Delivery Process & Timeline for UX and UI.

A realistic timeline is an asset for a good design brief.

© Priya Kavdia, Fair Use

5. Call to Action

  • Submission guidelines: Give instructions on how to submit proposals or portfolios—and these should be clear.

  • Contact information: Include contact details for when it comes to any inquiries or clarifications.

Brands and designers can also rely on design brief templates and software to help them. Here are some notable examples:

  1. Figma: Figma’s FigJam template offers benefits such as how it helps communicate design ideas with great clarity.

A screenshot of page that offers Figma's design brief template.

© Figma, Fair Use

  1.  Miro: Miro’s Design Brief template is a handy tool for brands to help find their place in the industry’s competitive landscape.

A screenshot of a page offering Miro's UX brief template.

© Miro, Fair Use

3. Milanote: Milanote’s design brief templates are available for web and app design to help brands set a course for successful websites and mobile apps.

A screenshot of a page offering Milanote's app brief template.

© Milanote, Fair Use

What are the Benefits of UX Design Briefs?

Particularly notable benefits of UX design briefs are that they:

1. Align Stakeholders

A design brief in UX design is a very important tool for aligning all stakeholders on the project's vision and objectives. It makes sure that everyone from the design team to the client understands the project scope, design requirements, as well as the desired outcomes. This, therefore, fosters a unified approach towards achieving the goals. From clearly stating the project's guidelines, challenges and goals, a design brief helps stakeholders have a mutual understanding—something that's essential for a project to succeed.

2. Streamline the Design Process

The design brief acts as a roadmap for UX designers—it provides them with the information they need to streamline the design process in an effective way. It includes detailed descriptions of the user interface concept, key features and user needs. These items help designers focus their efforts on critical aspects so they won’t waste resources on less important details. This structured approach doesn't just speed up the design process. It enhances efficiency, too, and ensures that the project adheres to the set timelines and budget constraints.

3. Avoid Miscommunication

Miscommunication can lead to project delays, increased costs and designs that don't meet the client’s expectations. A well-crafted design brief minimizes these risks. It gives a clear and concise document—one that outlines all critical project details. What's more, it serves as a reference point throughout the project; plus, it helps keep everyone on the same page and prevent misunderstandings. The design brief also includes a section on the project's scope and deliverables—which further helps to maintain clear communication between the design team and the client.

An image or screen of a design brief example.

© Mindmesh, Fair Use

Best Practices for Designers to Use Design Briefs

Designers should consider these tips and best practices so they can make the most of UX and UI design briefs:

1. Collaborate with Clients

Effective collaboration between designers and clients is an absolutely vital part of the way to craft a successful UX design brief. It starts when a brand creates a structured roadmap that enhances communication and makes sure all the parties are on the same page from the beginning. Designers should invite clients to participate in the project—and actively so. That will foster a trusting relationship and give deeper insights into the brand and target audience. Regular meetings and clear communication channels are essential parts of the formula. They permit continuous feedback as well as adjustments to the design brief as the project evolves.

To help collaborate effectively, designers should be sure to adopt the following items:

  • Feedback mechanism: Establish a clear process for obtaining feedback and approvals throughout the project.

  • Iterative approach: Embrace an iterative approach; allow for multiple rounds of feedback and revisions to refine the design.

UX Designer and Author of Build Better Products and UX for Lean Startups, Laura Klein explains important aspects of iteration in this video: 

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    Great agile teams commit to iterating on features. Now, it's interesting. When we did a bunch of  research on agile teams back in 2019 and 2020, we found one of the biggest complaints  people had was that their teams never went back and improved things that they'd already built. They would ship something, move it to the Done column and then never look at it again. Sometimes, they didn't even look at metrics to see if anybody was even *using* the feature.

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    The really unfortunate thing was that teams often shipped small or stripped-down versions of features just to get them out the door and then they *still* never went back and approved them. Obviously, this led to absolute nightmare products full of half-finished things that were inconsistent and didn't really make sense as a whole product. The thing is, that's one of the least agile  things you can do. The whole point of lightweight methodologies is that we're constantly getting things in front of users, getting feedback and improving them.

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    Do we sometimes ship things to  people that aren't quite perfect? Yeah – all the time. But we do it with the understanding that  we're shipping it in order to learn something, and once we learn something, we're going to go back and improve the product based on what we learned, and then we'll do it again... and then we'll do it again. That is iteration, and it's pretty much the core of agile. Great teams learn from their users and keep improving their product by iterating on features. They don't just keep churning out new half-baked features like they're some kind of widget factory.

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    So, teams that are truly committed to agile methodologies should be iterating and improving their user experience and their codebase *constantly*.
 

2. Ensure Well-Defined, Clear Goals and Objectives

A well-defined UX design brief is clear about outlining its project's goals and objectives. Designers need to work closely with clients if they're to identify the primary objectives of the project. These could include to solve specific user problems or boost user engagement. These goals should be Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Time-bound (SMART) to guide the design process effectively—and make sure that all stakeholders have a clear understanding of what success truly looks like. What's more, it's crucial to define the target audience and their needs—components that will directly influence the design decisions.

Designers need to understand the client’s brand and goals—and thoroughly so—before they embark on a fruitful relationship. So, they should:

  • Do all the comprehensive research they need to do: Conduct in-depth user research to understand the client's brand, target audience and landscape of the industry.

  • Get aligned with the client's objectives: Make sure that the design brief falls into line with the client's specific goals and objectives for the project at hand.

  • Prepare for usability testing: Be ready to engage in usability testing so they can validate the design's effectiveness and its user experience.

UX Strategist and Consultant, William Hudson explains critical points about user research in this video:

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  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:30

    User research is a crucial part of the design process. It helps to bridge the gap between what we think users need and what users actually need. User research is a systematic process of gathering and analyzing information about the target audience or users of a product, service or system. Researchers use a variety of methods to understand users, including surveys, interviews, observational studies, usability testing, contextual inquiry, card sorting and tree testing, eye tracking

  2. 00:00:30 --> 00:01:02

    studies, A-B testing, ethnographic research and diary studies. By doing user research from the start, we get a much better product, a product that is useful and sells better. In the product development cycle, at each stage, you’ll different answers from user research. Let's go through the main points. What should we build? Before you even begin to design you need to validate your product idea. Will my users need this? Will they want to use it? If not this, what else should we build?

  3. 00:01:02 --> 00:01:31

    To answer these basic questions, you need to understand your users everyday lives, their motivations, habits, and environment. That way your design a product relevant to them. The best methods for this stage are qualitative interviews and observations. Your visit users at their homes at work, wherever you plan for them to use your product. Sometimes this stage reveals opportunities no one in the design team would ever have imagined. How should we build this further in the design process?

  4. 00:01:31 --> 00:02:00

    You will test the usability of your design. Is it easy to use and what can you do to improve it? Is it intuitive or do people struggle to achieve basic tasks? At this stage you'll get to observe people using your product, even if it is still a crude prototype. Start doing this early so your users don't get distracted by the esthetics. Focus on functionality and usability. Did we succeed? Finally, after the product is released, you can evaluate the impact of the design.

  5. 00:02:00 --> 00:02:15

    How much does it improve the efficiency of your users work? How well does the product sell? Do people like to use it? As you can see, user research is something that design teams must do all the time to create useful, usable and delightful products.

3. Regularly Review and Update the Brief

To keep the relevance and effectiveness of a UX design brief, some important things to do are to regularly review and update the document throughout the project lifecycle. This practice helps accommodate any changes in project scope, user requirements or market conditions.

Designers should schedule review sessions with all stakeholders—so they can make sure the brief stays aligned with the project's goals and to make necessary adjustments based on the feedback they get. This iterative process doesn't just keep the project on track. It also prevents miscommunications; plus, it ensures that the final product lines up with the client's expectations and user needs.

Special Considerations and Potential Risks of UX Design Briefs

1. Beware of Scope Creep

Scope creep is a common challenge in UX design projects. It happens when the project's scope expands beyond its original objectives; that could be due to various factors—like changes in user requirements, lack of communication between stakeholders or inadequate or poor planning. This expansion can have a large impact on the project's timeline and budget. Plus, it can increase complexity and make it difficult to finish the project.

So, to prevent scope creep, it's crucial for UX designers to involve all stakeholders in the planning process from the beginning and ensure clear communication happens throughout the project's lifecycle. Another key strategy is to manage scope creep so as to set realistic expectations for timelines and budgets. Another is to remain flexible to adapt to changes.

2. Know How to Manage Client Expectations

It’s vital to manage client expectations to make sure that the design brief leads to successful outcomes of projects. To do this, among things it takes are clear communication from the start—to set realistic timelines and budgets—and involving the client in the project’s strategic stages.

Regular check-ins and feedback sessions help keep the client informed and engaged—and minimize misunderstandings. What's more, to create detailed project proposals and have a thorough discovery meeting at the beginning can align both parties on the project's scope and keep scope creep from occurring. When designers maintain open lines of communication and document all discussions, they can manage their clients' expectations effectively and make sure that transparency is a reality throughout the project.

Author, Speaker and Leadership Coach, Todd Zaki Warfel explains how to effectively present design work to clients:

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:32

    This new narrative starts with *identifying your audience and intent*. The way you pitch an idea to a client, peer or executive requires an *adjustment to your language and approach*. Client – they're more of an occasional traveler. They don't know the system; they don't know the ins and outs. They're less likely to share your language.  I mean, you're probably speaking design. They speak business and outcomes and results. So, you may need to establish a basic level of understanding.

  2. 00:00:32 --> 00:01:04

    Clients and executives are also less patient  and don't want to waste 20 minutes going through every single detail just to get to the answer. Karen's what you would call an occasional traveler. She expected high-fidelity visual comps and just had a bottom-liner approach. Karen's one of these busy executives. She doesn't have time for – nor does she need to or want to hear – all the details. She just needs to know *why she should care*, *why it matters to her line of business*,

  3. 00:01:04 --> 00:01:30

    and then she can decide to support your proposal ...or not. Now, the last time the team had presented to Karen, they spent the *entire 60-minute meeting* walking  her through *their process* and *justifying their decisions*. If you know anything about executives – a 60-minute meeting; *not* a good idea. Here's the rub. They never addressed the value of the business, and the team didn't come in with a clear ask.

  4. 00:01:30 --> 00:02:02

    In the own words of the team, it was the most grueling 60 minutes of their entire careers at this company. So, what do we do? Well, this time around, we started with audience and intent. We changed the story and wrote a new  narrative and developed a new plan. We started with the *intended outcome* with Karen, shared a few *stories* and then highlighted the *value* that our approach would bring to her business – and quickly gained approval from her. And I'll never forget the moment; it was like eight minutes into my presentation.

  5. 00:02:02 --> 00:02:22

    I actually looked down at my watch to check, when Karen interrupted me mid-sentence and said, 'Okay, Todd – I get it. You've done your homework; you've clearly shown how the solution solves the problem and how it's better than my original idea. What do we need to do to move forward?  What do you need from *me* to deliver this?'
 

3. Ensure Accurate and Complete Information

Accurate and complete information in the design brief is a crucial ingredient to avoid misunderstandings and make sure that the project meets the client's needs and expectations. A well-crafted design brief should include detailed information about the project's goals, objectives, target audience, design requirements and any potential challenges.

It's impossible to understate that it’s vital for designers to have a clear understanding of these elements so they can create designs that align with the client's vision and the project's requirements. Regular updates and revisions of the design brief may be needed to reflect any changes or new information. What's more, they'll help ensure that the project stays on track and meets its objectives.

  • Copyright and permissions: Ensure that the design work complies with copyright laws—and that all necessary permissions are obtained for any third-party assets which the brand uses.

  • Ethical implications: Consider the ethical implications of the design—especially in sensitive or regulated industries such as medicine or banking.

  • Client errors in judgement: In some cases, clients may overlook vital aspects of design—like color and contrast aspects—or other important points about accessibility. It’s vital to notify them about the potential of realizing these misconceptions in designs that might fail or run into legal problems.

Watch our video to understand more about why accessibility is such an essential part of design:

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  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:30

    Accessibility ensures that digital products, websites, applications, services and other interactive interfaces are designed and developed to be easy to use and understand by people with disabilities. 1.85 billion folks around the world who live with a disability or might live with more than one and are navigating the world through assistive technology or other augmentations to kind of assist with that with your interactions with the world around you. Meaning folks who live with disability, but also their caretakers,

  2. 00:00:30 --> 00:01:01

    their loved ones, their friends. All of this relates to the purchasing power of this community. Disability isn't a stagnant thing. We all have our life cycle. As you age, things change, your eyesight adjusts. All of these relate to disability. Designing accessibility is also designing for your future self. People with disabilities want beautiful designs as well. They want a slick interface. They want it to be smooth and an enjoyable experience. And so if you feel like

  3. 00:01:01 --> 00:01:30

    your design has gotten worse after you've included accessibility, it's time to start actually iterating and think, How do I actually make this an enjoyable interface to interact with while also making sure it's sets expectations and it actually gives people the amount of information they need. And in a way that they can digest it just as everyone else wants to digest that information for screen reader users a lot of it boils down to making sure you're always labeling

  4. 00:01:30 --> 00:02:02

    your interactive elements, whether it be buttons, links, slider components. Just making sure that you're giving enough information that people know how to interact with your website, with your design, with whatever that interaction looks like. Also, dark mode is something that came out of this community. So if you're someone who leverages that quite frequently. Font is a huge kind of aspect to think about in your design. A thin font that meets color contrast

  5. 00:02:02 --> 00:02:20

    can still be a really poor readability experience because of that pixelation aspect or because of how your eye actually perceives the text. What are some tangible things you can start doing to help this user group? Create inclusive and user-friendly experiences for all individuals.
 

Overall, design briefs are vital blueprints—and tools—that depend on communication, attention to detail and proactive mindsets. Only when UX and UI designers are on the same page as both the client and the users they serve can they produce design works that will exceed expectations. From there, designers can fine-tune truly impactful digital products or services.

A screen showing a design brief in Miro.

© Miro, Fair Use

Learn More about Design Briefs

Take our User Experience: The Beginner’s Guide course.   

Watch our Master Class Win Clients, Pitches & Approval: Present Your Designs Effectively with Todd Zaki Warfel, Author, Speaker and Leadership Coach. 

Read How to Write a Great Creative UX Brief for a Design Consultancy by Mateusz Kłosiński for further insights. 

Consult What is a Design Brief and How to Perfect it? [With Examples from UX Experts] by Priya Kavdia for additional helpful information. 

Go to How to Use a Design Brief – Consistency, Coordination and Clarity by Lankitha Wimalarathna for further details. 

Questions about Design Briefs

Who is responsible for creating the design brief?

The project owner is the one who usually creates the design brief. They could be the client, a project manager or a senior designer. The project owner sets the definition of the project’s goals, target audience, budget, timeline and key requirements.

A well-crafted design brief is something that makes sure that everyone involved understands the project’s vision and expectations. It should clearly outline the objectives, deliverables and constraints. As it does this, it helps designers get their work in line with the project’s goals—which leads to far more effective and efficient outcomes.

For example, a client who's launching a new website would include their branding guidelines, target audience details and specific functionalities they want. This clarity helps the design team make a website that meets the client’s needs.

Another point is that involving key stakeholders in the creation process can provide valuable insights and be a source of nurturing collaboration. Clear communication from the outset minimizes misunderstandings and revisions, saving time and resources.

Watch our Master Class Win Clients, Pitches & Approval: Present Your Designs Effectively with Todd Zaki Warfel, Author, Speaker and Leadership Coach. 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:32

    This new narrative starts with *identifying your audience and intent*. The way you pitch an idea to a client, peer or executive requires an *adjustment to your language and approach*. Client – they're more of an occasional traveler. They don't know the system; they don't know the ins and outs. They're less likely to share your language.  I mean, you're probably speaking design. They speak business and outcomes and results. So, you may need to establish a basic level of understanding.

  2. 00:00:32 --> 00:01:04

    Clients and executives are also less patient  and don't want to waste 20 minutes going through every single detail just to get to the answer. Karen's what you would call an occasional traveler. She expected high-fidelity visual comps and just had a bottom-liner approach. Karen's one of these busy executives. She doesn't have time for – nor does she need to or want to hear – all the details. She just needs to know *why she should care*, *why it matters to her line of business*,

  3. 00:01:04 --> 00:01:30

    and then she can decide to support your proposal ...or not. Now, the last time the team had presented to Karen, they spent the *entire 60-minute meeting* walking  her through *their process* and *justifying their decisions*. If you know anything about executives – a 60-minute meeting; *not* a good idea. Here's the rub. They never addressed the value of the business, and the team didn't come in with a clear ask.

  4. 00:01:30 --> 00:02:02

    In the own words of the team, it was the most grueling 60 minutes of their entire careers at this company. So, what do we do? Well, this time around, we started with audience and intent. We changed the story and wrote a new  narrative and developed a new plan. We started with the *intended outcome* with Karen, shared a few *stories* and then highlighted the *value* that our approach would bring to her business – and quickly gained approval from her. And I'll never forget the moment; it was like eight minutes into my presentation.

  5. 00:02:02 --> 00:02:22

    I actually looked down at my watch to check, when Karen interrupted me mid-sentence and said, 'Okay, Todd – I get it. You've done your homework; you've clearly shown how the solution solves the problem and how it's better than my original idea. What do we need to do to move forward?  What do you need from *me* to deliver this?'
 

How detailed should a design brief be?

A design brief should be detailed enough to give clear direction—but concise enough to stay focused. It must include vital information about the project’s goals, target audience, budget, timeline and key deliverables.

Provide clear objectives and expectations to guide the design team effectively. Detail the project's purpose, specific requirements and any constraints. Include background information about the brand, the problem the design needs to solve—and the desired outcomes.

For example, if you're designing a mobile app, be specific about the platform, core features, user personas and any design preferences. This helps the team understand the scope and constraints—which ensures their designs align with your vision.

However, don’t overwhelm the team with too much information. Just focus on what's necessary to complete the project successfully.

Watch Author and Human-Computer Interaction Expert, Professor Alan Dix explain important aspects about design requirements:

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:32

    Users: obviously the heart of what  we're doing as interaction designers.   So how do we catch this user focus? We  need to know who they are. Who are our users? Are they at home in the office? Are they people with university degrees? Are they people who are older, people who are younger? There's lots of different kinds of users. Who are they?

  2. 00:00:32 --> 00:01:03

    Do you know who they are?  Do you know the details of the way in which they they live their lives or they do that work? What do they do? And that's not an easy question. Sometimes it's obvious, they're changing  their heating controller. They're creating a video. But what do they really do? What are the details of it? And where are they? What's the context they're working  in? This is about requirements, the needs for use. Understanding the users, understanding where they're at.

  3. 00:01:03 --> 00:01:34

    That's at the heart. If you can't understand that, you'll  not being able to actually design for them.   One crucial thing about who they are is they're  probably not like you. And it is very hard to   get your head into somebody else's head.  In fact, you probably shouldn't try to   get your head into somebody else's head. You try to understand what's in their head,   not what you put there. So how are you going to  do it? They're probably not like you. So you need to talk to them. And that's true of all sorts of users. You might talk to people as individuals.

  4. 00:01:34 --> 00:02:04

    You might talk as groups, just trying to  understand what makes them tick. What are the   ways in which they think? What are their desires? What are their goals? Watch them, because actually sometimes we're not good at actually saying what we do. Sometimes when we see somebody or when somebody watches what we do, they notice things about it we would never have known ourselves. It's particularly true of expert behaviors. Things that we're so good at we don't even know we're doing them. And that could be true of verbal things,

  5. 00:02:04 --> 00:02:33

    that can be true of physical things. Often in sports. It's when you filmed somebody, the trainer can say, "Oh, you need to stretch your leg a little  bit tighter when you get to this point   on the track" or "slow down here". When you're in the midst of doing the activity, it's not possible. It's only when it gets watched that things go on. Sometimes you have to use your imagination.  And this is a problem, because we can just  

  6. 00:02:33 --> 00:03:03

    imagine ourselves and not fully understand  it. You should use your imagination   informed by what you observe when you talk to people. But sometimes you might have to deal   with situations where you can't actually  be there. You probably can't hitch a lift   up to the International Space Station  in order to do some design up there.   You can talk to people who've been there. You can perhaps get video footage of what's   happening there. But you probably will not be able  to go there yourself. So sometimes you have to use an element of imagination.

  7. 00:03:03 --> 00:03:30

    Some of your users  might be people who are difficult to access. They might be doing very... perhaps CEOs of  companies, if you're designing for those you   probably are not going to get 10 CEOs together  for a focus group. At most, you might get   people who work closely with them. You might get one or two to talk to,   but probably you're going to have to do a lot  from secondary sources. So sometimes you have   to use your imagination. What you can do is use  your direct knowledge in order to inform that.

  8. 00:03:30 --> 00:04:03

    And there's techniques particularly that  can help you do that business. Personas, which are about capturing descriptions, rich  descriptions of individuals. Cultural probes, which are about putting things into people's context so that they can tell you or you get   some information on what they're doing. Technology  probes, you create a piece of technology, a  piece of a system that you can deploy and learn  from. And then embodying that into scenarios, rich stories of what's going on.

  9. 00:04:03 --> 00:04:30

    And particularly trying to understand the context, the broader context that people are in. So lots of things that you should be starting to think about in order to build those rich understandings of people's situations in ways that can then inform your imagination. Which in the end, you're going to probably have to use in order to create novel designs. And perhaps also in order to communicate the knowledge you've got to other people

  10. 00:04:30 --> 00:04:35

    within your  organization, within your design context.
 

What is the difference between a design brief and a creative brief?

A design brief and a creative brief actually serve different purposes in a project. A design brief focuses on the specifics of a design project. It outlines the project’s goals, target audience, budget, timeline and key deliverables. This brief provides clear direction to the design team—and helps ensure their work runs in line with the project’s requirements.

A creative brief—on the other hand—encompasses a broader scope. It includes the overarching strategy and creative direction for a project; it covers elements like messaging, tone and overall brand vision. What's more, it targets various creative professionals—including designers, writers and marketers—to ensure a unified approach happens across different media and platforms.

For example, a design brief for a website project would detail layout preferences, color schemes and user experience requirements. A creative brief for the same project, though, would cover the brand message, target audience insights and the desired emotional response from users.

So, in summary, a design brief narrows down to design specifics—while a creative brief sets the broader creative vision.

Watch our Master Class Win Clients, Pitches & Approval: Present Your Designs Effectively with Todd Zaki Warfel, Author, Speaker and Leadership Coach. 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:32

    This new narrative starts with *identifying your audience and intent*. The way you pitch an idea to a client, peer or executive requires an *adjustment to your language and approach*. Client – they're more of an occasional traveler. They don't know the system; they don't know the ins and outs. They're less likely to share your language.  I mean, you're probably speaking design. They speak business and outcomes and results. So, you may need to establish a basic level of understanding.

  2. 00:00:32 --> 00:01:04

    Clients and executives are also less patient  and don't want to waste 20 minutes going through every single detail just to get to the answer. Karen's what you would call an occasional traveler. She expected high-fidelity visual comps and just had a bottom-liner approach. Karen's one of these busy executives. She doesn't have time for – nor does she need to or want to hear – all the details. She just needs to know *why she should care*, *why it matters to her line of business*,

  3. 00:01:04 --> 00:01:30

    and then she can decide to support your proposal ...or not. Now, the last time the team had presented to Karen, they spent the *entire 60-minute meeting* walking  her through *their process* and *justifying their decisions*. If you know anything about executives – a 60-minute meeting; *not* a good idea. Here's the rub. They never addressed the value of the business, and the team didn't come in with a clear ask.

  4. 00:01:30 --> 00:02:02

    In the own words of the team, it was the most grueling 60 minutes of their entire careers at this company. So, what do we do? Well, this time around, we started with audience and intent. We changed the story and wrote a new  narrative and developed a new plan. We started with the *intended outcome* with Karen, shared a few *stories* and then highlighted the *value* that our approach would bring to her business – and quickly gained approval from her. And I'll never forget the moment; it was like eight minutes into my presentation.

  5. 00:02:02 --> 00:02:22

    I actually looked down at my watch to check, when Karen interrupted me mid-sentence and said, 'Okay, Todd – I get it. You've done your homework; you've clearly shown how the solution solves the problem and how it's better than my original idea. What do we need to do to move forward?  What do you need from *me* to deliver this?'

What are common mistakes to avoid when one creates a design brief?

When you're creating a design brief, you'll need to avoid some common mistakes if you want to ensure clarity and effectiveness; so, do the following:

Have clear objectives: Clearly define the project’s goals. Ambiguous objectives can lead to confusion and misalignment with the vision of the project.

Have enough detail: Give enough detail about the target audience, project requirements and constraints. If they don't have specific information, the design team may struggle to meet expectations.

Don’t overload with information: Keep the brief focused and concise. Too much information can overwhelm the team and make the main objectives become diluted.

Don’t ignore stakeholder input: Involve key stakeholders in the process of creating the brief. Their insights can give valuable perspectives and make sure that all expectations get addressed.

Set realistic deadlines: Overly ambitious timelines can work against the quality of the work and make things more stressful for the design team.

Stick to budget constraints: Be clear about budget limitations. This helps the team make more informed decisions and keep unnecessary costs at bay.

Watch Author and Human-Computer Interaction Expert, Professor Alan Dix explain important aspects about design requirements: 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:32

    Users: obviously the heart of what  we're doing as interaction designers.   So how do we catch this user focus? We  need to know who they are. Who are our users? Are they at home in the office? Are they people with university degrees? Are they people who are older, people who are younger? There's lots of different kinds of users. Who are they?

  2. 00:00:32 --> 00:01:03

    Do you know who they are?  Do you know the details of the way in which they they live their lives or they do that work? What do they do? And that's not an easy question. Sometimes it's obvious, they're changing  their heating controller. They're creating a video. But what do they really do? What are the details of it? And where are they? What's the context they're working  in? This is about requirements, the needs for use. Understanding the users, understanding where they're at.

  3. 00:01:03 --> 00:01:34

    That's at the heart. If you can't understand that, you'll  not being able to actually design for them.   One crucial thing about who they are is they're  probably not like you. And it is very hard to   get your head into somebody else's head.  In fact, you probably shouldn't try to   get your head into somebody else's head. You try to understand what's in their head,   not what you put there. So how are you going to  do it? They're probably not like you. So you need to talk to them. And that's true of all sorts of users. You might talk to people as individuals.

  4. 00:01:34 --> 00:02:04

    You might talk as groups, just trying to  understand what makes them tick. What are the   ways in which they think? What are their desires? What are their goals? Watch them, because actually sometimes we're not good at actually saying what we do. Sometimes when we see somebody or when somebody watches what we do, they notice things about it we would never have known ourselves. It's particularly true of expert behaviors. Things that we're so good at we don't even know we're doing them. And that could be true of verbal things,

  5. 00:02:04 --> 00:02:33

    that can be true of physical things. Often in sports. It's when you filmed somebody, the trainer can say, "Oh, you need to stretch your leg a little  bit tighter when you get to this point   on the track" or "slow down here". When you're in the midst of doing the activity, it's not possible. It's only when it gets watched that things go on. Sometimes you have to use your imagination.  And this is a problem, because we can just  

  6. 00:02:33 --> 00:03:03

    imagine ourselves and not fully understand  it. You should use your imagination   informed by what you observe when you talk to people. But sometimes you might have to deal   with situations where you can't actually  be there. You probably can't hitch a lift   up to the International Space Station  in order to do some design up there.   You can talk to people who've been there. You can perhaps get video footage of what's   happening there. But you probably will not be able  to go there yourself. So sometimes you have to use an element of imagination.

  7. 00:03:03 --> 00:03:30

    Some of your users  might be people who are difficult to access. They might be doing very... perhaps CEOs of  companies, if you're designing for those you   probably are not going to get 10 CEOs together  for a focus group. At most, you might get   people who work closely with them. You might get one or two to talk to,   but probably you're going to have to do a lot  from secondary sources. So sometimes you have   to use your imagination. What you can do is use  your direct knowledge in order to inform that.

  8. 00:03:30 --> 00:04:03

    And there's techniques particularly that  can help you do that business. Personas, which are about capturing descriptions, rich  descriptions of individuals. Cultural probes, which are about putting things into people's context so that they can tell you or you get   some information on what they're doing. Technology  probes, you create a piece of technology, a  piece of a system that you can deploy and learn  from. And then embodying that into scenarios, rich stories of what's going on.

  9. 00:04:03 --> 00:04:30

    And particularly trying to understand the context, the broader context that people are in. So lots of things that you should be starting to think about in order to build those rich understandings of people's situations in ways that can then inform your imagination. Which in the end, you're going to probably have to use in order to create novel designs. And perhaps also in order to communicate the knowledge you've got to other people

  10. 00:04:30 --> 00:04:35

    within your  organization, within your design context.
 

How can a design brief improve communication between clients and designers?

A design brief does this by giving a clear and detailed outline of the project's goals, requirements and expectations. This document makes sure that both parties understand the project's scope and objectives from the beginning.

First, the design brief is what defines the project’s purpose and target audience. This helps designers create work that falls in line with the client’s vision. Clear objectives prevent misunderstandings—plus, they reduce the need for revisions.

Second, the brief includes specific details about the design requirements. These could be preferred styles, color schemes and functionality, for example. This information guides designers, and it helps them meet the client’s expectations in a more accurate way.

Third, the design brief sets realistic timelines and budgets. This transparency helps manage client expectations—plus, it lets designers plan their work efficiently.

Last—but not least—the design brief serves as a reference point all through the project. Both clients and designers can refer to it so they can make sure their project stays on track and ends up meeting its goals.

Watch our Master Class Win Clients, Pitches & Approval: Present Your Designs Effectively with Todd Zaki Warfel, Author, Speaker and Leadership Coach. 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:32

    This new narrative starts with *identifying your audience and intent*. The way you pitch an idea to a client, peer or executive requires an *adjustment to your language and approach*. Client – they're more of an occasional traveler. They don't know the system; they don't know the ins and outs. They're less likely to share your language.  I mean, you're probably speaking design. They speak business and outcomes and results. So, you may need to establish a basic level of understanding.

  2. 00:00:32 --> 00:01:04

    Clients and executives are also less patient  and don't want to waste 20 minutes going through every single detail just to get to the answer. Karen's what you would call an occasional traveler. She expected high-fidelity visual comps and just had a bottom-liner approach. Karen's one of these busy executives. She doesn't have time for – nor does she need to or want to hear – all the details. She just needs to know *why she should care*, *why it matters to her line of business*,

  3. 00:01:04 --> 00:01:30

    and then she can decide to support your proposal ...or not. Now, the last time the team had presented to Karen, they spent the *entire 60-minute meeting* walking  her through *their process* and *justifying their decisions*. If you know anything about executives – a 60-minute meeting; *not* a good idea. Here's the rub. They never addressed the value of the business, and the team didn't come in with a clear ask.

  4. 00:01:30 --> 00:02:02

    In the own words of the team, it was the most grueling 60 minutes of their entire careers at this company. So, what do we do? Well, this time around, we started with audience and intent. We changed the story and wrote a new  narrative and developed a new plan. We started with the *intended outcome* with Karen, shared a few *stories* and then highlighted the *value* that our approach would bring to her business – and quickly gained approval from her. And I'll never forget the moment; it was like eight minutes into my presentation.

  5. 00:02:02 --> 00:02:22

    I actually looked down at my watch to check, when Karen interrupted me mid-sentence and said, 'Okay, Todd – I get it. You've done your homework; you've clearly shown how the solution solves the problem and how it's better than my original idea. What do we need to do to move forward?  What do you need from *me* to deliver this?'
 

Design Director at Société Générale CIB, Morgane Peng explains important aspects of how some stakeholders may view design-related topics: 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:31

    I've been talking to a lot of people in agencies, startups, even from the GAFAs, to Google, to Apple, et cetera. And I realized that we share the same frustrations – from people who don't get design. They may sound familiar. We'll see. The first one is, 'Can you make it *pretty*?'; 'Can you do the 'UX' (whatever it is)?'; and, 'Can you add this *wow* effect?'

  2. 00:00:31 --> 00:00:51

    And if you're like me – so, this is me – when you hear that, you would cringe. And I've heard them a lot. Because what we really want to hear is... 'Can you make it *usable*?'; 'Can *we* do the UX *together*?'; And the last one: 'Can you *tell me what's broken*?'
 

What should the timeline and milestones section of a design brief include?

In the timeline and milestones section, be sure to put in key dates and deliverables so you can help make sure the project stays on track.

To start, outline the project's start and end dates. This will give a clear timeframe for the entire project.

Next, list major milestones. They're significant checkpoints in the project. These could include the completion of research, initial design drafts, client reviews and final revisions. Each milestone should have a specific deadline. Work in intermediate deadlines for smaller tasks that lead up to each milestone. For example, you'll want to set dates for initial concept presentations, user testing and feedback sessions. This will help the team manage their time and ensure steady progress. Clearly state who's responsible for each task and milestone. To assign responsibility is something that can prevent confusion—and ensure accountability.

Finally, consider potential risks and include buffer time in the schedule to handle any unexpected delays. This flexibility helps keep thing things on track with the project timeline—even should issues arise.

Watch our Master Class Win Clients, Pitches & Approval: Present Your Designs Effectively with Todd Zaki Warfel, Author, Speaker and Leadership Coach. 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:32

    This new narrative starts with *identifying your audience and intent*. The way you pitch an idea to a client, peer or executive requires an *adjustment to your language and approach*. Client – they're more of an occasional traveler. They don't know the system; they don't know the ins and outs. They're less likely to share your language.  I mean, you're probably speaking design. They speak business and outcomes and results. So, you may need to establish a basic level of understanding.

  2. 00:00:32 --> 00:01:04

    Clients and executives are also less patient  and don't want to waste 20 minutes going through every single detail just to get to the answer. Karen's what you would call an occasional traveler. She expected high-fidelity visual comps and just had a bottom-liner approach. Karen's one of these busy executives. She doesn't have time for – nor does she need to or want to hear – all the details. She just needs to know *why she should care*, *why it matters to her line of business*,

  3. 00:01:04 --> 00:01:30

    and then she can decide to support your proposal ...or not. Now, the last time the team had presented to Karen, they spent the *entire 60-minute meeting* walking  her through *their process* and *justifying their decisions*. If you know anything about executives – a 60-minute meeting; *not* a good idea. Here's the rub. They never addressed the value of the business, and the team didn't come in with a clear ask.

  4. 00:01:30 --> 00:02:02

    In the own words of the team, it was the most grueling 60 minutes of their entire careers at this company. So, what do we do? Well, this time around, we started with audience and intent. We changed the story and wrote a new  narrative and developed a new plan. We started with the *intended outcome* with Karen, shared a few *stories* and then highlighted the *value* that our approach would bring to her business – and quickly gained approval from her. And I'll never forget the moment; it was like eight minutes into my presentation.

  5. 00:02:02 --> 00:02:22

    I actually looked down at my watch to check, when Karen interrupted me mid-sentence and said, 'Okay, Todd – I get it. You've done your homework; you've clearly shown how the solution solves the problem and how it's better than my original idea. What do we need to do to move forward?  What do you need from *me* to deliver this?'
 

Design Director at Société Générale CIB, Morgane Peng explains important aspects of how some stakeholders may view design-related topics: 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:31

    I've been talking to a lot of people in agencies, startups, even from the GAFAs, to Google, to Apple, et cetera. And I realized that we share the same frustrations – from people who don't get design. They may sound familiar. We'll see. The first one is, 'Can you make it *pretty*?'; 'Can you do the 'UX' (whatever it is)?'; and, 'Can you add this *wow* effect?'

  2. 00:00:31 --> 00:00:51

    And if you're like me – so, this is me – when you hear that, you would cringe. And I've heard them a lot. Because what we really want to hear is... 'Can you make it *usable*?'; 'Can *we* do the UX *together*?'; And the last one: 'Can you *tell me what's broken*?'
 

How do you specify deliverables in a design brief?

Be clear about outlining what you expect the design team to make. Start with a list of all the key deliverables. These could include wireframes, mockups, prototypes, final designs and any other outputs of the project.

Describe each deliverable in detail. For instance, if you need wireframes, state the number of pages or screens and the level of detail called for. For prototypes, mention the platform (web, mobile) and the functionalities that need to go in.

Set clear deadlines for each deliverable. This helps the team manage their time—plus, it ensures they complete everything on schedule.

Include the format and the specifications for each deliverable. State whether you need digital files, printed materials—or both. Mention what the preferred file formats (e.g., PDF, JPEG) are and any technical requirements (e.g., resolution, dimensions).Identify the person who's responsible for each deliverable. This creates accountability—and ensures that everyone knows their roles and responsibilities.

Watch our video about wireframing for more information about this valuable design activity:

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:30

    Wireframing is like creating a blueprint for a website or app. Imagine you want to build a house before the builders start. An architect draws a simple sketch showing where the rooms will be, where the doors and windows go, and how everything connects in the same way when making a website or app. Wireframing is the first step. It's a basic, no frills outline of how the pages will screens will look. It helps designers and developers plan with things will be placed like buttons, images and text. It's not about the colors or fancy details.

  2. 00:00:30 --> 00:01:00

    It's more about the structure and layout, like arranging the rooms in a house. Wireframes help make sure everything fits together well before the actual building or coding begins. Creating a wireframe during a UX project involves several steps. Understand goals, know the project goals, and user needs. Sketch ideas roughly sketch layouts on paper or digitally create low fidelity wireframes. Use a tool to make simple grayscale wireframes showing basic structure and placement.

  3. 00:01:00 --> 00:01:29

    Get feedback, share wireframes. Gather feedback and make adjustments. Refine and iterate. Make improvements based on feedback. Focusing on functionality. Create high fidelity wireframes and colors. Fonts and images for a more detailed look. Test and validate. Conduct usability testing and refine further. Finally, ease and hand off complete high fidelity wireframes and handoff to the design and development teams. Wireframing helps to plan and visualize a user friendly design before diving into the details.
 

How do you address budget considerations in a design brief?

To address budget considerations in a design brief, do these:

Clearly outline the project's financial constraints. To start with, state the total budget that's available for the project. This helps the design team understand both the scope and the scale of the project.

Break the budget down into specific categories. Include costs for design services, materials, software and any other relevant expenses. This detailed breakdown provides transparency—plus, it helps the team allocate resources effectively.

Be specific about any fixed costs or hourly rates. If the project includes multiple phases, allocate the budget for each phase separately. This ensures the team manages funds in an efficient way throughout the project.

Include guidelines on how to manage additional expenses. State whether there's any flexibility in the budget—and how to handle unforeseen costs. This will prepare the team for potential financial challenges that might crop up.

Last—but not least—clarify the payment schedule. Indicate when payments will occur, like at the completion of certain milestones or on specific dates. This makes sure that both parties agree on financial expectations as well as timelines.

CEO of Experience Dynamics, Frank Spillers explains the return on investment (ROI) of UX—an important consideration for design-related budgets.

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:31

    John Nielsen found that there's an average of 83% increase in key performance indicators from UX. UX improves KPIs. If it's not improving KPIs, then it's not good UX, right? And there are a lot of usability people who don't have an ROI background, who don't have business acumen, who don't get this.

  2. 00:00:31 --> 00:01:02

    They're busy trying to make the user feel good. That's important. But you also need to connect to key performance indication. Like, you know, write to improving your business metrics. In terms of e-commerce, you can expect to spend 10% and that 83% conversion conversion rates are normally 2%, and that's normal to have a 2% conversion rate. So we're seeing up to 15, 18, 22% and then the jumps up to 80% and 90%,

  3. 00:01:02 --> 00:01:33

    which which are just, you know, gangbusters returns intention to return. So if a user says I want to come back 60% from Forrester and stat market studies have found that and interesting to compare that to the you know how much would you be willing to spend while intention to return is incremental revenue on the back side right when they're coming back. So typically spending between 10 to 12% of dev budgets in order to get these ROI

  4. 00:01:33 --> 00:02:01

    returns. So the deal with how much you spend and how much you get back, it's the 110 100 role spend a dollar on research to make the six upfront. That's that early on user research $10 to change it during design or spend $100 to change something in development. So once you start baking and coding, you know, all the interrelationships of JavaScript kind of this and that it's actually easier to

  5. 00:02:01 --> 00:02:21

    learn about users prototype without much effort and figure out what the requirements are and validate it. Get the outside in validation before you start coding. It just makes sense. It makes financial sense. And that's why UX has become a staple in software development teams.
 

What tools can help to create and manage design briefs?

Several tools can help with that. Here are some:

Trello: Use Trello to organize tasks and milestones. Its visual boards and cards make it easy to track progress and manage deadlines.

Asana: Asana helps manage projects by letting you assign tasks, set deadlines and monitor progress—and makes sure that everyone stays on the same page.

Google Docs: Google Docs enables the collaborative writing and editing of design briefs. Multiple team members can work on the document at the same time—and make sure everyone’s input is included.

Notion: Notion offers a flexible workspace where you can create, share and store design briefs. It combines notes, databases and task management in one place.

Milanote: Milanote is ideal for creative projects. It lets you create visual boards with notes, images and links—and helps you organize and present ideas clearly.

Slack: Slack facilitates communication between team members. You can share updates, discuss details and make sure that everyone stays informed about the project’s progress.

Design Director at Société Générale CIB, Morgane Peng explains important aspects of how some stakeholders may view design-related topics:

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:31

    I've been talking to a lot of people in agencies, startups, even from the GAFAs, to Google, to Apple, et cetera. And I realized that we share the same frustrations – from people who don't get design. They may sound familiar. We'll see. The first one is, 'Can you make it *pretty*?'; 'Can you do the 'UX' (whatever it is)?'; and, 'Can you add this *wow* effect?'

  2. 00:00:31 --> 00:00:51

    And if you're like me – so, this is me – when you hear that, you would cringe. And I've heard them a lot. Because what we really want to hear is... 'Can you make it *usable*?'; 'Can *we* do the UX *together*?'; And the last one: 'Can you *tell me what's broken*?'
 

How do you evaluate the effectiveness of a design brief?

To evaluate the effectiveness of a design brief, make an assessment of how well it guides the project and meets its objectives.

To start with, review the clarity of the project’s goals. An effective design brief should clearly state the project’s purpose, target audience—and desired outcomes.

Check if the brief provides detailed requirements and constraints. Effective briefs include specific information about design elements—these could be color schemes, typography and functionality, for instance. This will help the design team understand what the client expects. Examine the timeline and milestones section. An effective brief sets realistic deadlines, and it includes key milestones—to help ensure that the project stays on track.

Collect feedback from the design team. Ask them if the brief gave them a clear direction—and if they faced anything that was ambiguous. Their input can highlight strengths and areas for improvement next time.

Finally, evaluate the project’s outcome against the brief’s objectives. Determine if the final design meets the goals and expectations that the brief outlined. If it does, then the design brief effectively guided the project.

Watch our Master Class Win Clients, Pitches & Approval: Present Your Designs Effectively with Todd Zaki Warfel, Author, Speaker and Leadership Coach. 

Design Director at Société Générale CIB, Morgane Peng explains important aspects of how some stakeholders may view design-related topics: 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:31

    I've been talking to a lot of people in agencies, startups, even from the GAFAs, to Google, to Apple, et cetera. And I realized that we share the same frustrations – from people who don't get design. They may sound familiar. We'll see. The first one is, 'Can you make it *pretty*?'; 'Can you do the 'UX' (whatever it is)?'; and, 'Can you add this *wow* effect?'

  2. 00:00:31 --> 00:00:51

    And if you're like me – so, this is me – when you hear that, you would cringe. And I've heard them a lot. Because what we really want to hear is... 'Can you make it *usable*?'; 'Can *we* do the UX *together*?'; And the last one: 'Can you *tell me what's broken*?'
 

How do you handle changes to a design brief during the project?

To handle any changes during the project, try taking these steps:

Assess the change: Evaluate the proposed change to understand its impact on the project's goals, timeline and budget. Work out if the change is necessary—and if it's beneficial.

Communicate with the team: Inform the design team—and stakeholders—about the change. Explain why the change is needed and how it is going to affect the project. Clear communication is a sure way to seeing that everyone understands and supports the modification.

Update the brief: Revise the design brief to work those new changes into it. Make sure to document all the updates—and that includes any new requirements, deadlines or budget adjustments. This will keep your brief accurate and current.

Adjust the plan: Modify the project plan so that it now incorporates the changes. Update the timeline and milestones—and reallocate resources if needed. Make sure that the team knows about the new plan.

Monitor progress: Track the project's progress to check that the changes get implemented correctly. Regular check-ins with the team help address any issues that might crop up due to the change.

Watch our Master Class Win Clients, Pitches & Approval: Present Your Designs Effectively with Todd Zaki Warfel, Author, Speaker and Leadership Coach. 

CEO of Experience Dynamics, Frank Spillers explains the return on investment (ROI) of UX—an important consideration for design-related budgets. 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:31

    John Nielsen found that there's an average of 83% increase in key performance indicators from UX. UX improves KPIs. If it's not improving KPIs, then it's not good UX, right? And there are a lot of usability people who don't have an ROI background, who don't have business acumen, who don't get this.

  2. 00:00:31 --> 00:01:02

    They're busy trying to make the user feel good. That's important. But you also need to connect to key performance indication. Like, you know, write to improving your business metrics. In terms of e-commerce, you can expect to spend 10% and that 83% conversion conversion rates are normally 2%, and that's normal to have a 2% conversion rate. So we're seeing up to 15, 18, 22% and then the jumps up to 80% and 90%,

  3. 00:01:02 --> 00:01:33

    which which are just, you know, gangbusters returns intention to return. So if a user says I want to come back 60% from Forrester and stat market studies have found that and interesting to compare that to the you know how much would you be willing to spend while intention to return is incremental revenue on the back side right when they're coming back. So typically spending between 10 to 12% of dev budgets in order to get these ROI

  4. 00:01:33 --> 00:02:01

    returns. So the deal with how much you spend and how much you get back, it's the 110 100 role spend a dollar on research to make the six upfront. That's that early on user research $10 to change it during design or spend $100 to change something in development. So once you start baking and coding, you know, all the interrelationships of JavaScript kind of this and that it's actually easier to

  5. 00:02:01 --> 00:02:21

    learn about users prototype without much effort and figure out what the requirements are and validate it. Get the outside in validation before you start coding. It just makes sense. It makes financial sense. And that's why UX has become a staple in software development teams.
 

What should you do if there is a disagreement over the design brief content?

If there's a disagreement over the design brief content, try taking these steps to resolve it:

Communicate openly: Arrange a meeting with all parties who are concerned. Discuss the points of disagreement clearly—and calmly. Ensure everyone has a chance to voice their concerns and perspectives.

Clarify objectives: Revisit the project’s goals and objectives. Be sure that everyone understands the purpose and the desired outcomes of the project. This can help align differing views.

Seek compromise: Look for common ground and areas where some compromise can happen. Aim to find a solution that addresses the concerns of all parties while staying true to the project's goals.

Consult stakeholders: Involve key stakeholders if that's needed. Their input can provide additional insights and help mediate the disagreement.

Document changes: Once you do reach an agreement, update the design brief to reflect the resolved content. Be sure that all parties review and approve the changes.

Move forward: Communicate the updated brief to the entire team and then continue with the project—making sure everyone is on the same page.

Watch our Master Class Win Clients, Pitches & Approval: Present Your Designs Effectively with Todd Zaki Warfel, Author, Speaker and Leadership Coach. 

Design Director at Société Générale CIB, Morgane Peng explains important aspects of how some stakeholders may view design-related topics: 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:31

    I've been talking to a lot of people in agencies, startups, even from the GAFAs, to Google, to Apple, et cetera. And I realized that we share the same frustrations – from people who don't get design. They may sound familiar. We'll see. The first one is, 'Can you make it *pretty*?'; 'Can you do the 'UX' (whatever it is)?'; and, 'Can you add this *wow* effect?'

  2. 00:00:31 --> 00:00:51

    And if you're like me – so, this is me – when you hear that, you would cringe. And I've heard them a lot. Because what we really want to hear is... 'Can you make it *usable*?'; 'Can *we* do the UX *together*?'; And the last one: 'Can you *tell me what's broken*?'
 

What are some highly cited scientific articles about the subject of design briefs?

  1. Koronis, G., Silva, A., Kang, J. K. S., & Yogiaman, C. (2020). How to best frame a design brief to maximize novelty and usefulness in idea generation. Proceedings of the Design Society: DESIGN Conference, 1, 1745-1754.  

This publication presents a study that investigates how different types of design brief framing influence the novelty and usefulness of ideas that come up during conceptual design ideation sessions. The researchers conducted experiments with student designers—giving them design briefs framed in three conditions: a control group with a succinct brief, an abstract group with a conceptual brief, and a group who had various example solutions representing a concrete framing. The resulting design concepts were evaluated for both novelty and usefulness. The findings suggest that abstract briefs do promote more novel ideas—while concrete briefs with physical examples lead to more useful but less novel solutions. The study contributes insights into the impact of design brief representations on creativity metrics—highlighting the trade-off between novelty and usefulness. The authors discuss the implications for crafting effective design briefs to stimulate desired levels of creativity and appropriateness in design outcomes based on the intended goals of the project.

  1. Sosa, R., Vasconcelos, L. A., & Cardoso, C. C. (2018). Design briefs in creativity studies. Proceedings of the DESIGN 2018 15th International Design Conference, 1801-1810.   

This publication examines the diversity of research practices in experimental studies of early conceptual design—with a particular focus on the design briefs used for prompting ideation from participants. From analyzing 75 recent studies from leading design journals between 2012 and 2017, the authors reveal a high degree of variance in how design briefs are presented, the number and experience level of participants, and the time that's allocated for ideation tasks. The study highlights the lack of consistency in these critical aspects of experimental design—which can impact the validity and replicability of findings. The authors propose three indicators—polysemy, innovation and communication—to assist researchers in preparing effective design briefs. What's more, they introduce an "experimental design canvas" as a framework to structure the design of creativity experiments and facilitate the synthesis of appropriate design briefs. This research contributes to improving the rigor and comparability of studies in the field of design creativity by providing guidelines and tools for crafting well-designed briefs and experimental conditions.

What are some highly regarded books about design briefs?

Lasky, M. (2023). HOW TO TAKE A WEB DESIGN BRIEF.  

HOW TO TAKE A WEB DESIGN BRIEF by Matt Lasky is a comprehensive guide that emphasizes how important it is to craft a meticulously detailed brief for successful web design projects. With over two decades of experience in digital agencies, the author shares insights, guidance and real-world examples to help readers achieve alignment and consensus from the project's inception. The book aims to eliminate common web project stumbling blocks—such as struggles with design approvals, last-minute team additions, scope creep and misaligned expectations. From mastering the art of creating a well-crafted design brief, readers can navigate the complex landscape of web projects and raise their chances of success.

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Literature on Design Briefs

Here's the entire UX literature on Design Briefs by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Learn more about Design Briefs

Take a deep dive into Design Briefs with our course User Experience: The Beginner’s Guide .

If you’ve heard the term user experience design and been overwhelmed by all the jargon, then you’re not alone. In fact, most practicing UX designers struggle to explain what they do!

“[User experience] is used by people to say, ‘I’m a user experience designer, I design websites,’ or ‘I design apps.’ […] and they think the experience is that simple device, the website, or the app, or who knows what. No! It’s everything — it’s the way you experience the world, it’s the way you experience your life, it’s the way you experience the service. Or, yeah, an app or a computer system. But it’s a system that’s everything.”

— Don Norman, pioneer and inventor of the term “user experience,” in an interview with NNGroup

As indicated by Don Norman, User Experience is an umbrella term that covers several areas. When you work with user experience, it’s crucial to understand what those areas are so that you know how best to apply the tools available to you.

In this course, you will gain an introduction to the breadth of UX design and understand why it matters. You’ll also learn the roles and responsibilities of a UX designer, how to confidently talk about UX and practical methods that you can apply to your work immediately.

You will learn to identify the overlaps and differences between different fields and adapt your existing skills to UX design. Once you understand the lay of the land, you’ll be able to chart your journey into a career in UX design. You’ll hear from practicing UX designers from within the IxDF community — people who come from diverse backgrounds, have taught themselves design, learned on the job, and are enjoying successful careers.

If you are new to the Interaction Design Foundation, this course is a great place to start because it brings together materials from many of our other courses. This provides you with both an excellent introduction to user experience and a preview of the courses we have to offer to help you develop your future career. After each lesson, we will introduce you to the courses you can take if a specific topic has caught your attention. That way, you’ll find it easy to continue your learning journey.

In the first lesson, you’ll learn what user experience design is and what a UX designer does. You’ll also learn about the importance of portfolios and what hiring managers look for in them.

In the second lesson, you’ll learn how to think like a UX designer. This lesson also introduces you to the very first exercise for you to dip your toes into the cool waters of user experience. 

In the third and the fourth lessons, you’ll learn about the most common UX design tools and methods. You’ll also practice each of the methods through tailor-made exercises that walk you through the different stages of the design process.

In the final lesson, you’ll step outside the classroom and into the real world. You’ll understand the role of a UX designer within an organization and what it takes to overcome common challenges at the workplace. You’ll also learn how to leverage your existing skills to successfully transition to and thrive in a new career in UX.   

You’ll be taught by some of the world’s leading experts. The experts we’ve handpicked for you are:

  • Alan Dix, Director of the Computational Foundry at Swansea University, author of Statistics for HCI: Making Sense of Quantitative Data

  • Ann Blandford, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at University College London

  • Frank Spillers, Service Designer, Founder and CEO of Experience Dynamics

  • Laura Klein, Product Management Expert, Principal at Users Know, Author of Build Better Products and UX for Lean Startups

  • Michal Malewicz, Designer and Creative Director / CEO of Hype4 Mobile

  • Mike Rohde, Experience and Interface Designer, Author of The Sketchnote Handbook: The Illustrated Guide to Visual Note Taking

  • Szymon Adamiak, Software Engineer and Co-founder of Hype4 Mobile

  • William Hudson, User Experience Strategist and Founder of Syntagm

Throughout the course, we’ll supply you with lots of templates and step-by-step guides so you can start applying what you learn in your everyday practice.

You’ll find a series of exercises that will help you get hands-on experience with the methods you learn. Whether you’re a newcomer to design considering a career switch, an experienced practitioner looking to brush up on the basics, or work closely with designers and are curious to know what your colleagues are up to, you will benefit from the learning materials and practical exercises in this course.

You can also learn with your fellow course-takers and use the discussion forums to get feedback and inspire other people who are learning alongside you. You and your fellow course-takers have a huge knowledge and experience base between you, so we think you should take advantage of it whenever possible.

You earn a verifiable and industry-trusted Course Certificate once you’ve completed the course. You can highlight it on your resume, LinkedIn profile or website.

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Interaction Design Foundation - IxDF. (2024, May 17). What are Design Briefs?. Interaction Design Foundation - IxDF.

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