The 8 key components of a good design brief
Following on from my post about how to choose the best design from those presented by your designer, below are the eight key components of a good design brief. Follow these steps when writing your brief and you’ll have a great chance of getting something back that’ll work.
1. What is it?
Be clear about what you want. Context is everything when it comes to a design. If you ask for an A4 printed brochure, that’s the design you’ll get – optimised for that format. If you expect it to live online as a pdf, say so, and don’t be surprised if a good designer gives you some other options to consider that might be better for the context.
2. Who is it aimed at?
If you ever answer this with the word “everyone”, then please rewind, slap yourself on the wrists and try again.
It’s impossible to target everyone. Impossible. Unless, the world just ran out of oxygen and you’re selling the last tank.
If your business targets multiple audiences – whether for different product groups or stakeholders, it’s always best to clearly segment your audiences and choose one at a time to target.
And when you hand over the brief, describing the specific audience group(s) you want to target, make sure there’s plenty of detail.
3. Why would they read/want it?
There has to be a reason. Understanding the various motivations your customers, readers and users have, gives enormous insight and guidance.
It’s sometimes fairly obvious what the sales messages are – those features and benefits that have been developing ever since the business plan was put together. But that’s just a part of it. You need to know which of those is most important to this audience, in this context, at this time. It might change from one audience to the next; or one season to the next.
The real trick to getting it right, however, is knowing what your audience needs it for. What task can you help them complete? What benefit can you bring to them directly? And What information do you need to give them to help convince them yours is the best option? Technical specifications? Price? Small print?
If you’ve thought about all that, then you’ll have a blueprint for your content that might just engage your audience. If you haven’t then you’ll almost certainly fail get their attention.
4. What are the business objectives?
These might include: ‘sell more units’, ‘employ more people’, or ‘win more work’. These are classed as ‘primary objectives’ and should be at the forefront of everyone’s mind. They’re usually simple, straightforward, achievable, commercial goals.
Other types of objective that are common in briefs are: ‘raise awareness’, ‘improve morale’, ‘create a buzz’. These are classified as ‘not very good objectives’ and should be should be recategorised as tactics.
Objectives are what the business needs to achieve. Tactics are what you agree to do in collaboration with your agency.
For instance, if you want to want to sell more units a tactic might be to raise awareness by creating a buzz on social media. There’ll be a call to action to the e-commerce page on your website, where making an impulse purchase is made as easy as possible.
It perhaps seems obvious when you look at it that way.
It’s surprisingly easy to put tactics forward as a substitute for business objectives. If all you’re trying to do it create awareness for your brand, that’s all you can hope to achieve. And awareness alone isn’t going to keep everyone in a job. Deliberately aiming to hit clearly defined primary objectives gives everyone a reason for being.
5. How do we measure success?
If the opportunity is there, measure success. If you’re able to demonstrate how well your design worked, and how that contributed to business objectives with a tangible ROI, then you’ll be getting high-fives around the campfire at the next company away day.
If, on the other hand, measuring shows just how badly it all went, then use it as an opportunity to learn. The stats might very well highlight where everyone’s been going wrong for years.
It’s easier to measure some channels more than others (on the web, there are many hundreds of options), but always plan your measurement KPIs well, so that statistics you present are both meaningful and accurate.
6. What are the constraints?
When you’re commissioning a creative to do some work, you need to be aware of this wonderful paradox: The more constraints you put upon them, the more creative you’ll force them to be.
No designer likes a ‘blank canvass’. It’s as scary and empty of tangible detail as a great big ocean. On the other hand, clear and sensible constraints provide the seeds for new ideas to grow. Some of the most creatively brilliant solutions to humankind’s biggest problems have come because of, not in spite of, the difficulties faced.
I wager your problems aren’t quite that dramatic, but the parameters you need your designer to work within are important just the same.
You’ll should already have defined constraints, such as message, audience and objectives. Here are some examples of more practical things you might include:
- Brand guidelines
- Logos
- Accreditations
- Statutory notices (such as and FCA statement for regulated financial businesses in the UK)
- Paper format (e.g.: “it must be a four-page A4 landscape on 200gsm so it fits though our customer’s letterboxes and stays within the postage budget”)
- Back end platform (e.g.: “it has to be built in .NET so we can integrate with our CRM)
A few other types of information that offer guidance, might include:
- Examples of previous documents produced by the company (“follow the style of these”, or “we don’t like these because…”)
- Examples of competitors’ documents with similar notes as to what you do and don’t admire about them
- Your CSR policy
- Previous analytics and measurements data with insights
Your list will no doubt look different to this. But be sure to think carefully and include everything – missing something important could prove costly.
7. When does it need to be finished?
If the best answer you currently have to offer is ‘asap’, then stop. To you, asap means tomorrow. To everyone else it means ‘back of the queue’. Sit down with your designer or project manager and compare calendars.
Deadlines focus everyone on getting things done quickly and efficiently. Projects that run along an indefinite timeline invariably take twice as long, cost everyone much more in time and effort, and end up striking wide of all sorts of moving goalposts.
8. What’s the budget?
The most uncomfortable part of almost every pitch I’ve been in has been the budget slide. It’s a massive moment. There are three ways it can go for the agency: It’s either over budget or it’s under-sold.
Did I say ‘three’? Sorry, I forgot to mention that getting it spot on practically impossible.
Here’s the truth of the matter: You have a finite amount of money to spend based on what you can afford. Your agency will spend it wisely for you based on what they can afford to do for that budget. So tell the agency up-front how much money you want to spend, and what you want to achieve. They’ll then tell you if they think they can do it or not. No time wasted.
If it’s a no-go, there’ll be another agency with a different cost-base, approach and quality you ought to be speaking to instead.
Worried about getting ripped off? If you say what the budget is will they just spend all of it?. Erm, well, yes. That’s what a budget is for. If you want to spend less, say so and they’ll work on that basis to get the maximum value for you out of what’s available. It’s just like any other constraint – it provides clear guidance and fosters creativity.
In any case, if you don’t trust your agency, then there are clearly other issues to iron out first.
Summary
A decent, detailed design brief gives everyone involved a splendid level of guidance as to what should be produced. It makes it easy to create and approve content and designs. It makes evaluating success possible. It keeps commercial relationships between all parties working harmoniously.
And writing one needn’t be a massive task. Much of the information required should already exist within your organisation. Where there are gaps – such as audience profiles and budgets – now is the perfect opportunity to figure those things out.
Have fun!