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] • • • • • • 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) – • 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? – 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: – – – – – 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 • • • • • • • • • 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 ]