A User Experience (UX) design brief is a crucial document that outlines the goals, project scope, budget, design requirements, and other core details of a new project. This guide will walk you through creating a clear, actionable brief that sets your UX project up for success.

Why is a UX Design Brief Important?

A well-structured UX design brief helps align teams, streamline the design process, and ensure that stakeholders, designers, and developers are on the same page. Without a solid brief, projects can suffer from scope creep, miscommunication, and inefficient resource allocation.

Follow the structure below for an effective UX design brief.

‍

1. Project Overview

Start with a clear, concise summary that includes:

• Project Name: A recognizable name that helps team members and stakeholders reference it easily.
• Key Team Members: Identify designers, product managers, project managers, engineers, and other contributors.
• TL;DR : A short (1-2 sentence) summary of the project’s context and goals.

ℹ️ Example:

• Project Name: Meeting Notetaker Auto-Summary Feature
• Key Team Members: Javier Morales (Design), Brittany Johnson (Product), Lilian Chen (Engineering)
• TL;DR: This project aims to add an automated meeting summary feature to an online meeting notetaker app, ensuring users receive an email summary of the meetings immediately after the meeting concludes.

‍

‍

2. Business Context & Objectives

This section outlines the strategic importance of the project and the expected outcomes.

• Background Information: Why is this project important for the business and the user.
• Key Objectives: Define 1) what the project aims to achieve from a business perspective, and 2) how the design and the functionalities will address user pain points.
• Success Metrics: Define measurable metrics (e.g., conversion rate improvements, reduced error rates) derived from key objectives.
• Key Stakeholders: Identify decision-makers and those affected by the project.

ℹ️ Example:

• Background Information: The current meeting notetaker app provides real-time transcription and an AI-generated summary accessible on the user dashboard. However, users have expressed the need for an email summary to ensure they can review key points without logging into the app.
• Key Objectives:
  • Business Perspective: Improve user retention by providing post-meeting engagement.
  • User Perspective: Enable quick access to meeting summaries without the need to open the app. Allow users to turn auto-email summaries on and off.
• Success Metrics:
  • 95% of users can enable or disable email delivery settings without external help or documentation
  • Positive user feedback on the convenience of email delivery
• Key Stakeholders: Product team, engineering team, UX designers, customer success managers, and key enterprise customers who rely on meeting notes.

‍

‍

3. User Insights

Understanding your audience is key to a successful UX design process.

• Targeted User Groups: Who will be using the product? Include their goals and behaviors. Link to personas if available.
• Exclusions: Are there any specific user groups that won’t be targeted?
• Key Pain Points: What problems are users currently facing that the design should address?

ℹ️ Example:

• Targeted User Groups:
  • Meeting hosts who are the owners of the meetings
  • Meeting attendees who are invited to the meetings
• Exclusions:
  • None
• Key Pain Points:
  • Meeting hosts and attendees want easier access to meeting summaries without logging into the app
  • Meeting hosts want to eliminate the need of manually sending meeting summaries out

‍

‍

4. Project Scope

Clearly define what is included (and what isn’t) in the project to manage expectations.

Feature Requirements

Broken down into feature name, user story, detailed requirements and priority

• Feature name: A brief title describing the feature.
• User story: A short statement explaining how the user interacts with the feature and the value it provides.
• Detailed requirements: Specific details about the feature, including functionality, design considerations, and any dependencies.
• Priority: Categorize the feature as high, medium, or low priority based on its importance to the overall project goals.

Out of Scope

List features or functionalities that will not be included in this project. Clearly defining what is excluded helps manage expectations and prevents scope creep.

Constraints

• Technical Constraints: Include any key technical constraints that may affect the UX design, such as legacy system dependencies.
• Resource Constraints: Define budgetary and personnel limitations.

Risks

Identify potential challenges or obstacles that could impact the project. This can include business risks (e.g., changing requirements) or UX risks (e.g., accessibility concerns). Understanding risks early allows teams to plan mitigation strategies and minimize disruptions.

‍

ℹ️ Example:

Feature Requirements

• Feature name: Email summary configuration
• User story: As a user, I want to be able to turn on or off the automated email summary feature for the meetings I host
• Detailed requirements:
  • Add automated email summary setting to Meeting Settings page
  • Default setting should be OFF for new users, with an option to disable it.
  • Changes to the email delivery preference should take effect immediately.
• Priority: High

Out of Scope

In this iteration, users will not be able to select which attendees will receive the email notification.

Constraints

• Technical Constraints:
  • Potential delays in email sending due to server load
• Resource Constraints:
  • Limited development bandwidth for Q2 due to other priorities.

Risks

• Users not understanding that it’s a feature that can be turned on or off

‍

‍

5. Timeline

Outline key milestones and deadlines to keep the project on track.

ℹ️ Example:

• Week 1: Research & user interviews
• Week 2-3: Wireframing & prototyping
• Week 3-4: User testing & feedback
• Week 5+: Development & implementation

‍

‍

Conclusion

A well-structured UX design brief is essential for ensuring project clarity, aligning stakeholders, and delivering a seamless user experience. By outlining project goals, user needs, and technical constraints, you set a solid foundation for success. To ensure your UX design brief is effective, follow these best practices:

• Keep it concise and clear – Avoid unnecessary jargon and focus on essential details.
• Align with business and user goals – Ensure the brief addresses both company objectives and user needs.
• Define measurable success metrics – Use clear KPIs to track progress and measure success.
• Ensure stakeholder alignment – Involve key decision-makers early to prevent misalignment later.

‍

Need UX help with your new project?

Koi Studios specializes in making design your competitive advantage. We offer deep expertise in design strategy and execution. Book a call to learn how we can help.