Design Briefs

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. 

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:

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. 

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: 

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. 

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

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. 

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

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:

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.

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:

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: 

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. 

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: 

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.

2. 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.

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.