Design Brief
Developing a Design Brief
For a more thorough break down in developing your design brief, check out Developing a Design Brief
Your design brief establishes clear expectations about the system you will be developing. It should clearly explain the problem, the purpose of the system, the expectations, the limits, and how success will be measured.
In business, generally a design brief would be presented to the design team at the commencement of a project.
Your design brief should be created after you have clearly identified the problem you want to solve or the opportunity you want to seize, what the subsystems should be, and what the key components of the system are.
Overview
It outlines all of the expectations of the project. These could include:
- What the key objective is—why is this system needed?
- Who the intended users are and how this system affects them
- Constraints and Considerations
- Ethical Considerations
- Factors that will influence the design
- Context of use—where and when will it be used?
- A timeline
- Requirements—what should it do (and not do)
- Measures of success—how will you be able to tell the system was successful?
- Risks and safety considerations
- What will be produced by the end of the project
You do not have to know exactly how you will produce the system. You do not have to know all of the components or materials you will produce, you just need the idea.
There is no set length required for a design brief, but 1-2 pages would be sufficient. It should not be so long-winded that you are repeating your entire folio, but should clarify your folio to that point.
You could think of it like a conclusion or summary of your research to this point, and setting goals for what comes next.