/design-brief-generator

name: design-brief-generator
description: Generate comprehensive design briefs for design projects. Use this skill when designers ask to "create a design brief", "structure a design project", "define design requirements", or need help planning design work.

Design Brief Generator

Overview

Generate comprehensive, well-structured design briefs that align stakeholders and guide design projects. This skill helps designers create clear project briefs that define scope, goals, constraints, and success criteria.

**Built for:**

• UX/UI designers
• Product designers
• Design leads
• Design systems teams
• Brand designers

---

Quick Start

1. Generate Design Brief

Run the interactive script:

scripts/generate_brief.sh

This will guide you through creating a comprehensive design brief covering:

• Project goals and objectives
• Target users and personas
• Design constraints
• Success criteria
• Timeline and deliverables

2. Validate Brief

Check brief completeness:

scripts/validate_brief.sh <brief_file.md>

Ensures all critical sections are included.

---

Core Workflow

When to Create a Design Brief

**Use a design brief for:**

• New product/feature design projects
• Design system initiatives
• Redesign projects
• Brand identity projects
• UX research initiatives

**Skip for:**

• Minor UI tweaks
• Bug fixes
• Small iterations on existing designs

---

Design Brief Components

1. Project Overview

**What it includes:**

• Project name and description
• Background and context
• Why this project matters now
• Business objectives
• User problems being solved

**Example:**

## Project Overview

**Project:** Mobile app redesign
**Background:** Current app has 2.8 star rating with users citing confusing navigation
**Business Goal:** Increase app retention from 15% to 40% (Day 30)
**User Problem:** Users can't find key features, leading to frustration and abandonment

---

2. Design Goals & Objectives

**Define what success looks like:**

• Primary design goal
• Secondary goals
• Success metrics
• Must-haves vs. nice-to-haves

**Example:**

## Design Goals

**Primary Goal:** Create intuitive navigation that helps users complete core tasks in < 3 taps

**Secondary Goals:**
- Reduce visual clutter by 40%
- Improve accessibility (WCAG AA compliance)
- Establish reusable component library

**Success Metrics:**
- Task success rate: 90%+
- Time on task: -50%
- SUS score: 75+

---

3. Target Users & Personas

**Who are we designing for:**

• Primary user personas
• User needs and pain points
• User goals and motivations
• Technical proficiency
• Context of use

**Example:**

## Target Users

**Primary Persona:** Sarah, Marketing Manager
- **Age:** 32-45
- **Tech Savvy:** Medium
- **Goals:** Create campaigns quickly, track performance
- **Pain Points:** Current tool too complex, takes too long
- **Context:** Uses on desktop during work hours, sometimes mobile

---

4. Design Principles & Direction

**Guiding principles for the project:**

• Core design principles
• Visual direction
• Interaction patterns
• Content strategy
• Accessibility requirements

**Example:**

## Design Principles

1. **Clarity over cleverness** - Users should never wonder what to do next
2. **Progressive disclosure** - Show what's needed, hide complexity
3. **Consistent patterns** - Use established design system components
4. **Accessible by default** - WCAG AA minimum, aim for AAA

---

5. Scope & Constraints

**What's in and out of scope:**

**In Scope:**

• Screens/flows included
• Platforms (web, mobile, tablet)
• Devices and browsers
• Accessibility requirements

**Out of Scope:**

• What we're NOT designing
• Future considerations

**Constraints:**

• Technical limitations
• Timeline constraints
• Resource constraints
• Brand guidelines to follow

**Example:**

## Scope

**In Scope:**
- Dashboard redesign (5 screens)
- Mobile responsive (iOS, Android)
- Dark mode support
- WCAG AA compliance

**Out of Scope:**
- Admin panel (separate project)
- Native mobile apps (web only)
- Marketing website

**Constraints:**
- Must use existing design system
- Launch deadline: 8 weeks
- Development team: 2 engineers
- No custom illustrations budget

---

6. User Flows & Journeys

**Key user paths to design:**

• Primary user flows
• Entry points
• Decision points
• Success states
• Error states

**Example:**

## Key User Flows

**Flow 1: Create Campaign**
1. Land on dashboard
2. Click "New Campaign"
3. Choose template
4. Customize content
5. Preview
6. Publish
7. Success confirmation

**Flow 2: View Analytics**
[Define the flow]

---

7. Deliverables & Timeline

**What will be delivered:**

**Design Deliverables:**

• User research (if needed)
• Wireframes
• High-fidelity mockups
• Interactive prototype
• Design specifications
• Component documentation
• Accessibility annotations

**Timeline:**

• Week 1-2: Research & wireframes
• Week 3-4: High-fidelity designs
• Week 5-6: Prototype & testing
• Week 7-8: Refinement & handoff

---

8. Success Criteria

**How we'll measure success:**

**Qualitative:**

• User testing feedback
• Stakeholder approval
• Designer review
• Accessibility audit pass

**Quantitative:**

• Task success rate
• Time on task
• Error rate
• SUS score
• NPS

**Example:**

## Success Criteria

**Usability Testing:**
- 8/10 users complete primary task without help
- Average SUS score: 75+
- Zero critical accessibility issues

**Business Metrics (post-launch):**
- 40% Day 30 retention (up from 15%)
- 90% task completion rate
- < 5% error rate

---

Design Project Types

1. New Feature Design

**Focus areas:**

• User needs validation
• Integration with existing product
• Interaction patterns
• Edge cases

**Brief template:** Standard brief with emphasis on user flows

---

2. Redesign Project

**Focus areas:**

• Current state analysis

-