Start your design brief with one visit

Choose a particular moment in an ordinary day at your future space. Use one page to describe the visit, the room and the work that supports it. Mark assumptions as you go.

1. Describe the visit

At [time], [person] arrives because [reason]. They need [something], and I want them to feel [feeling].

Give the person a reason to be there. Use what you know about your intended visitor; mark anything you are imagining.

2. State the room’s promise

For this person, the room offers [promise].

Keep it to one sentence. If you are choosing between two promises, write both and leave the choice open.

3. Annotate one reference

In this image, [quality] matters because it supports [part of the visit].

Point to something specific: the light, the scale, the way people gather. Connect it to the visit you described. Put the explanation beside the image.

4. Put the team in the picture

For this visit to work, the team needs [requirement] at [point in the visit].

Name a service, equipment or handoff requirement. Include what you are still testing, and how it might affect the experience you want to offer.

At the foot of the page, write one question you cannot answer yet. Leave space for the designer’s response.

Bring this page into the fuller brief, alongside your actual project budget and its flexibility, daily operating requirements, and three things the concept refuses to be—with a reason for each.

During the conversation, ask the designer to mark what is clear, what needs testing and what is missing. Keep those notes on the same page for the next conversation.