Design brief
Definition
A design brief is a document that defines the design problem to be solved — who it's for, what they need, what constraints apply, and what success looks like — giving a designer or design team clear direction before any visual work begins.
A design brief is not a design specification. A spec tells the designer what to build. A brief tells the designer what problem to solve and leaves the how open.
The distinction matters because design solves problems, not requirements. A requirement says "add a share button." A design brief says "users who complete a session need a fast way to send the output to someone who wasn't in the room — most of them are on mobile and don't have more than thirty seconds."
The core sections of a design brief:
The problem statement — the single most important section. A good problem statement is specific about the user, their context, their goal, and what's currently blocking it. This is harder to write than it sounds.
The user — who the design is for. Reference the relevant user persona or describe the specific user type with enough detail to inform design decisions.
Business objective — what the design should accomplish for the business (conversion, retention, adoption).
Constraints — platform, accessibility requirements, brand guidelines, technical limits, existing patterns the design must integrate with.
Success criteria — how you'll know the design worked. A behavioral metric is better than an aesthetic judgment.
Inspiration or anti-inspiration — examples of approaches you want to emulate or avoid.
Design briefs are often drafted at whiteboards — the PM and designer sketch the user's context, identify the problem, and agree on constraints before opening Figma. BoardSnap captures those sessions as structured summaries that become the written brief.
Examples
- A brief for a new onboarding flow: the specific user moment, the drop-off problem, mobile constraint, and the activation metric to move
- A brief for a redesigned action item list: the user's workflow, the three UX problems with the current design, and accessibility requirements
- A brief for a share feature: user context, what they need to send and to whom, platform constraints
Related terms
Snap a design brief. Ship its actions.
BoardSnap turns any whiteboard — including this one — into a summary and action plan.