Context & outcome
Explain what changed, why the issue matters now, and which business result should move. Avoid starting with “we need an app.” The product is a response to the context, not the context itself.
What event, growth, risk, or operating pressure makes action timely?
What should become measurably better if the work succeeds?
What does the current situation cost in time, money, risk, or opportunity?
Who is accountable for the result and able to make tradeoff decisions?
Users & workflow
Name the primary people involved, the job each is trying to complete, the trigger that starts the work, and the path from input to outcome.
Primary user
The person whose successful journey determines whether the product is useful.
Supporting roles
Approvers, administrators, partners, reviewers, support staff, and system owners.
Critical journey
The minimum end-to-end path that must work reliably for the outcome to exist.
Scope & dependencies
Describe capabilities in terms of user outcomes and operational behavior. List systems, data, access, providers, policies, and decisions that the work depends on.
| Include | Defer | Dependency |
|---|---|---|
| Critical user journey and required roles | Secondary journeys without current evidence | User access and decision availability |
| Essential data, controls, and integrations | Convenience features that do not prove value | System owners, APIs, environments, and credentials |
| Launch, support, and ownership requirements | Scale assumptions not yet demonstrated | Security, legal, procurement, and operational approval |
Success & constraints
Success measures guide tradeoffs. Constraints make the plan honest. Capture both before dates and features become commitments.
- Behavioral measures: adoption, completion, retention, correction, or escalation.
- Operational measures: cycle time, error, rework, support load, cost, or reliability.
- Technical measures: performance, availability, recovery, security, and accessibility.
- Constraints: budget, deadline, regulation, vendor, platform, team capacity, or change windows.
A concise brief template
Keep the first brief short enough to invite questions. Unknowns should be labeled, not hidden behind premature detail.
Write one useful page.
- Context: what changed and why this matters now.
- Outcome: the measurable business and user change.
- Users: primary role, supporting roles, and critical journey.
- Current state: tools, workarounds, friction, and evidence.
- Scope: essential capabilities, explicit exclusions, and dependencies.
- Success: signals, constraints, risks, owner, and next decision.