Design Brief Example
Your Name Here
This is similar to what we use on the
Cisco.com team.
Revision History
• Version 1.4: Corrected Category types (page
6), added SMEs, minor updates from
Stephanie Smith
• Version 1.3: Added Editorial SMEs
• Version 1.1: Minor revisions with examples
Intake Submission Info [internal only]
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Project Name
Mission of the project (one-liner)
Primary business objective
Approximate budget available
Key sponsors
[Note: Use a form like this internally to get the
project started quickly]
Overview
• {Our organization} needs to improve measured
customer engagement on {x, y} and as part of
this effort is redesigning and streamlining {z}
• The primary goal is to help customers [ …]
• A secondary important goal is to [ … ]
• There will be two tracks of related work, which
could happen in parallel:
– Track 1: Quick fixes to [ … ]
– Track 2: A more thorough design based on existing
research [ … ]
– These two tracks should be estimated together but
as separate line items.
Key Issues/Challenges
• Design not aligned with business objectives
(see section)
• Inconsistent Treatments:
• Page titling / naming (causes SEO issues)
• Inconsistent top box treatment – sometimes the
grey box is associated with the image – sometimes
not
• Inconsistent presentation and layout of video
treatments within pages
• Not enough specification information readily
available
• Unclear content and visual hierarchy
• Not ready for coming features such as [ … ]
Audiences
• Primary audiences:
– Audience 1
– Audience 1
• Secondary audiences:
– Media and bloggers
– Procurement managers
• Tip: Here think about:
– Who are the users you are targeting?
– Think about specific personas -- what motivates
the specific targets? What are their buying
patterns?
Business Objectives/Desired Outcomes
• From a business standpoint, these pages need to to […]
– The new experience should : (edit or add)
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• Specific project objectives: (edit or add to these – pick a few
focused objectives)
– Educate and excite customers about [product]
– Disseminate knowledge and information
– Raise public awareness of a new initiative.
– Generate purchases
– Other: (specify)
• Measurement:
– How are you measuring success?
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Customer Needs
• Top tasks: [These] pages[experiences] need to
address the basic needs of our visitors:
– Help customers to [ … ]
– Help customers to [ … ]
• They pages should also:
– […]
– […]
– Provide a path to [ … ]
• Note that wording will be different for mobile or
tablet initiatives, but the principle is the same.
Calls to Action
• List any specific known calls to action for this
area
Existing Research
• List any known existing metrics, usability,
audience research, or competitive research
Usage Data/Metrics
• List any existing relevant metrics you have on
this area or product
• List measurement plans you have in mind post
launch (what would you like to measure, key
conversions, etc)
Content Audit and Status
• List any known content audit information that
may be available to the vendor or design team
Design Deliverables
• We require a new set of designs that (1) restructure
the [ . . .] of the site and (2) visually redesign the [ …
]. Deliverables include:
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Content audit
Wireframes
Usage flow diagrams
Prototype for discussion and testing
Visual comps and specification (leveraging existing
components)
– Xx More
Out of Scope
• The product does not address the [ … ]. This
may be a future project.
Contacts & Stakeholders
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Stephanie Smith: Product Lead/SME
Vinny Paris: Global Lead
Christine Farnham: Visual Design
Jane Walrus: User Experience Lead/Engagement
Manager
Cat Robbin: Usability contact
Gita Ratcliffe: Editorial
Technical lead: Keith Grapefruit
Mitch Jones: Site Producer
Gina Jackson: Maketing Manager
Timeline
• Initial wireframes delivered by January 15,
2014.
• Usability test results January 27, 2014
• Final wireframes delivered February 10,
2014
• Visual designs delivered by February 28,,
2014 or earlier
• Documentation for new components March
5, 2014
Coordination Points
• Hero spotlight explorations (Chris Farnham), a
separate mini-project
• Video treatment (Vendor W)
• Task-based navigation and product hierarchy
navigation on new Cisco.com Support area
Details on the Tracks
• (Use this slide if there are multiple tracks)
• Track 1: Quick fix approach for deployment
this quarter [ … ]
• Track 2: [ … ]
Technical Constraints
• […]
• Consult with your IT team or Rick Rose’s team
for any potential issues. Mail: [team mail]
• This is a good section to include so that you
and vendors don’t waste time on designs that
can’t be implemented easily.
Applications
• Are there any special features you would like
to include on the website [e.g. shopping cart,
database applications, rich media etc]
• Should this web page or section be optimized
for mobile devices?
Global Considerations
• Countries this solution will support: [ … ]
• Languages this solution will support [ … ]
• Localization considerations beyond language
include [ … ]
• Timing
Current Page (include pages as illustrations)
Call out things that
work and don’t about
the existing designs.
Model Pages from Other Sites
• Here are some best practices from other sites.
• Not all of these features make sense for [our
site area], but are worth factoring into our
design thinking.
• [ Add pictures of good practices from other
sites, with callouts about what you like and
don’t ]