Your First Instructional Design Project Brief - A Template for New Designers

The Tool: Project Briefs

You've met with your stakeholders and (hopefully) performed a needs assessment. Maybe you asked the 5 Whys, and you feel confident about the solution you're about to propose to your stakeholders. You're ready to get started building your deliverables.

But building a final could take weeks or months, and by then, your stakeholders may forget the scope they originally agreed to.

Before you start down the path of building a new instructional product, you need a way to get everyone on the same page. Pull this Instructional Design Project Brief out of your toolbox to make that happen.

The Purpose

The purpose of a project brief is to outline your project timeline in a clear, easy-to-understand format. This is where you detail your deliverables, outline activities that are in and out of scope, and connect your design decisions to your learners' needs.

Use Case

After you've agreed on project scope but before you start building, review your brief with your stakeholders. You can format this as a document or slide deck, but it should include everything you've agreed will be created and the timeline for review.

Instructions

Start with this project brief template and adjust it to fit your project's specific needs.

Pros

A project brief helps you outline project scope and document stakeholder buy-in.

Cons

Like most documents, project briefs are only as useful as the people who follow them. In projects with rapidly changing scope or unforeseen challenges, this brief may need revision.

Takeaways

Project briefs serve as the crucial step between needs assessment and design, ensuring your stakeholders are aligned on project scope.