Consider Apple. How and why every iPhone that is launched in the market is welcomed? Why would a startup think of creating an app that helps people instill new habits? And why did that application think everywhere? Does it mean that it will not leave you alone to achieve the goal you want? How did that startup know that there are people who need help in this matter?
Products, whether digital or not, travel a path to be produced. There is a plan and a plan. Several teams must work together to produce a product. It should also be noted that the production of every product is not successful. In order to ensure the success of the product, especially digital products, certain steps must be followed carefully and by maintaining specific standards.
For the production and supply of a successful product, especially a successful digital product, the correct and fundamental design of the product is a step that cannot be omitted. It is a step that should not be skipped easily. Product design consists of different components and stages. Several teams and designers must work together effectively and closely for the design to come to fruition.
Product designer and UX designer (i.e. product design team and interface and user experience design team) on the one hand, and marketing and sales team, technical and business management team on the other hand, in cooperation with each other and based on a specific strategy and plan and goal of product design and production advance What ensures the cooperation of these teams and people is that everyone knows exactly what product they want to produce with what features for whom.
How can a business coordinate these people and teams? How do all those involved in design and production understand exactly where they should reach? The answer is: writing a correct and basic brief for product design. What is a design brief? Why is it important and how should you write a brief for product design? This content is written to give comprehensive and complete answers to these questions.
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Why and how should we write a brief for product design?
Let us first define what is this design brief? A design brief is a design brief that specifies what the product is supposed to do, what features it should have, and what its goals are. This document is the roadmap for the product designer and the product design team. Based on this design document or understanding, the product is produced. Of course, the design brief is a living document that may be slightly modified and changed as a result of team discussions and ideas. You should not think that this document is going to be hundreds of pages. No, brief design does not have a specific size. But in any case, it is a general plan and it is better to be short, precise and clearly written.
Now that it has been said what a design brief is, the question arises, why should a brief be written for product design? Why take the time to prepare this document? After all, each team has its own plan and plan (for example, the UX team has a user experience design strategy).
Writing a good product design brief is the secret to the success of any product design project. Being able to write an effective product design brief is an important skill for any design manager and is especially important when aligning different teams on the overall goal of a project.
5 steps to write a successful design brief
In writing the product design brief, you should pay attention to 6 questions. The steps that will be mentioned next are also set based on these questions and finding answers for them. A design brief that is written correctly and in principle answers the following questions:
- What is going to be built and why?
- What problem is that product supposed to solve and how?
- Where and how is that product supposed to be used?
- What are the competing products and how is the final product different from them?
- How long does it take for the final product to be produced and ready for sale?
- What criteria should be used to measure the success of the final product?
1. Who exactly is the final consumer (user) of the product and what is the problem?
It all comes back to human-centered design. The end user must be at the center of attention of all teams in all stages of product design and production. The product is designed and produced for his use. The consumer/end user should be known completely. What problem and need does he have that has not been solved? How do the products in the market solve the user’s needs and problems? What things are still missing? What are the characteristics of the final consumer? Where does he live? What is his education and income?
In fact, in the first step, the correct and complete answer to the first 3 questions should be determined. Note that it is better for the product to focus on solving one or two main problems of the end user. The product is not supposed to solve all the user’s problems. If you have a question whether economic considerations should be considered at this stage or not? The answer is yes! The finished price of the product should be in line with the budget of the end user.
2. What is the solution to the problem or what is better?
Remember that the product design brief is prepared in the very early stages of the work. Much research still needs to be done. It should be kept in mind that this document should be flexible and not specify everything definitively. A general plan and what should be done are determined, but no one knows what may happen in the process of implementing and executing the initial plans.
The process of product design and user experience design is very much driven by research, trial and error, and creativity and ideation. It is for this reason that maybe the solution intended to solve the problem in the brief is slightly different from what actually happens in the final product. If everything is written decisively and final in the brief, and people and teams think that it is impossible to violate that outline, then the way to their ideation and creativity is actually blocked.
3. The evaluation criteria and time to complete the work should be determined
What should be achieved based on the product design brief? Depending on the financial and human resources of the business, the result of the brief may be a 3D model of the product or even a prototype. What should be specified in the final brief is the final result that should be produced based on the brief. In addition to that result, the timetable for reaching that result or different stages in the work is determined almost decisively and clearly. I said almost decisively because unpredictable cases should also be taken into account.
Another thing that should be clearly defined in the design document is the outcome evaluation criteria. If the result is the final product, how should that product be evaluated? For example, if the final product is an application, it should be shown to a group of users (target group) and asked to work with it and give feedback. Analyzing the opinion of real users is a good measure to measure the success of the project.