Characteristics of UX briefs

Question

In your experience, what should a good UX brief include? What is the information you need to start work on a project?

Answer 1

Generally in a UX brief I would like to see the following:

1. Background about the product or service - gives the designer some context about the client, the product/service and its users
2. Design objective(s) - what are you trying to achieve and what problems you are trying to solve, which will lead to the design principles you should use and metrics you can use to measure whether the issues have been addressed
3. Existing information/knowledge about users - this is obviously important so you know what assumptions you will be making and what information you might have to gather
4. Limitations/constraints - most projects will rely on existing systems or technologies, and it is good to know what you'll be working within so you don't deliver something that won't work
5. Schedule/timeline/milestone - for planning and resourcing purposes
6. Contacts - who are the points of contact for various questions about the project or the people with knowledge about different aspects of the organisation

That's probably a lot to start with, but the brief should be concise and form the basis for further planning and enquiries.

Answer 2

I'd say it's also important to specify the deliverables, it's a big difference between wireframes and high fidelity clickable prototype in terms of time and resources.