Name the decision.
A category is a place to look. A decision gives the work a purpose. Before collecting information, write down the choice the team is trying to make: whether to explore a need, compare two directions, or stop an idea.
A brief should connect the target product, usage situation and decision goal. If two team members interpret the question differently, resolve that difference before expanding the research.
Add the boundaries that matter.
Describe the people and situation the question concerns. Record constraints you already know, such as the use environment, a deadline or a price assumption. Leave unknowns visible instead of turning guesses into requirements.
A useful constraint explains its origin. A team preference, an observed customer problem and a manufacturing limit should not silently become the same kind of evidence.
Decide what would change your mind.
Write an acceptance criterion before reading the results. It might be a requirement for traceable evidence or a specific uncertainty the research must resolve. Avoid inventing a numerical threshold when there is no reason to trust it.
When the goal changes, keep a short reason for the revision. That record helps explain why a later decision differs from an earlier one.
ILLUSTRATIVE BRIEF · 虚构示例
Should we explore an easier-to-clean travel water bottle for dogs?
- Situation
- Short walks, limited water access and cleaning at home.
- Decision
- Choose which cleaning friction to investigate first.
- Open question
- Is cleaning a recurring problem in traceable source material?
- Next check
- Read the original sources and seek direct user observation.
This example explains a method. It is not a customer case or a research result.