Why use a “Creative Brief?”
The creative brief serves as the core document for the project. It defines the project, enables the project plan to be developed and will be used as a point of reference during the development process in terms of keeping the project on target. Furthermore, the Brief enables everyone involved to quickly understand and focus on the key elements of the project. This creative brief will cover a few important areas: your organization, your project details, your audience, and your brand.
Once completed, it will serve both you and Brookside Studios staff to define exactly what you need for your business and how Brookside Studios can add value where it is needed most. This document serves as a guide to keep the project on track and on budget.
We know that there are a lot of questions we ask in the beginning, but this is a worthwhile exercise that saves time in the end.
About
Contacts:
Your name:
Thomas Berger
Your Position/Title:
Communication Coordinator
Email Address:
Phone (including area):
405-605-8816
Background information
How did you hear about Brookside Studios? (check all that apply):
[ ] I found you through search results (Google, Yahoo, etc)
[ X ] I was referred by a friend or colleague
[ ] I know you
[ ] I never knew of Brookside Studios before now
[ ] Other?
Are you familiar with the concept of web standards?
[ X ] Yes
[ ] Kind of
[ ] No
Have you been through a website redesign effort before?
[ X ] Yes
[ ] No
If yes, how long ago?
1.5 years ago
If you answered yes, what role did you play?
Coordinator, copy-writer, art provider
What does your organization do? What sets it apart?
We are a second-generation, local family-owned, OKC company that has provided tremendous client care that has provided innovated tech solutions for more than 63 years. We are process driven, client focused, faith based company that values relationships more than profits. We are large enough to virtually provide technology solutions for any company, but small enough to make any company feel like they are our only client.
Check the box(es) that best describes your organization:
[ ] Fortune 500 corporation
[ ] Nonprofit organization
[ ] Educational institution
[ ] Startup
[ ] Small business (under 50 employees)
[ ] An individual with a site/idea
[ x ] Other
Please list all company locations?
OKC , downtown OKC, Norman/OK
How many people does your organization employ?
100
Approximately how many people will be involved in this project at your organization?
4
About your project
Is this a redesign of an existing site, or a new site altogether?
[ X ] Redesign
[ ] New site
What is the site’s current URL?
When was the last time the site was redesigned?
1 year
Describe the concept, project or service this site is intended to provide or promote.
The site is to be an online billboard, or digital salesman, for the site. To inform customers of what we do and drive them to contact us, via telephone, email or form submissions.
What are some of the fundamental issues you’re trying to improve or business problems you’re trying to solve with a site redesign?
Our current site looks like any other copier company website. We want to look unique, attractive, techy, clean , classy, fun, friendly and cutting-edge,.
What sites do you consider competitors? Please comment on their strengths and/or weaknesses.
Business Equipment
Standleys — —Very up-to-date, techy, but kind of annoying with moving artwork on front page and I don’t know what they do at a glance.
ImageNet, — —Clean and simple, but too simple. Very plain, uninteresting
OSI — —Attractive, colorful, but too much copy, bad font (according to web standards)
RICOH — — clean, techy
Summit — — Techy, very distinctive, simple, but the dark/blackish background seems to take away from its professional look
Sooner — — Shows they’re local, good colors, but blocky, old and hard to look at.
Shredding
Shred It— Strong search ranking (#1 on Google), clean/simple look, resourceful
Absolute Shredding — —Easy to use, but looks outdated
IT Services
3Nines Technologies — — Looks amateurish (Not a good thing), clunky, old, bad artwork
Manage IT — — Modern, colorful, but cluttered.
Video surveillance
ADT — — Up-to-date, clean, techy, very graphic/photo intensive making for an attractive appearance
Aside from competitors, are there any sites you consider best-of-breed? (Could be completely outside of your business or industry. Please list several examples of sites you like and explain why you like them.)
Apple – Clean, techy, simple, user-friendly, to –the-point
Tesla – Clean, techy, simple, user-friendly, interesting, fun to look at.
What do you want to differentiate your site from the competition?
We want a site that doesn’t look like a copier site, but a technology site, a site that is actually interesting, visually stimulating, relevant and makes patrons want to browse around.
Who will be responsible for maintaining the site after launch?
Thomas Berger
About Your Audience
To the best of your ability, describe the primary and secondary users of your site.
Business owners, execs, decision makers, user of all size and specifically located in OK. As secondary, people looking for a career with RK Black.
What known needs are they bringing to your website? (Examples include: Interest in subject matter, needing the service you provide, product purchases, company references etc.)
Anything related to technology in a business. Copiers, Print, Shredding, Servers, IT, Computers, Scanning, etc.
What general demographic or user groups do your visitors fall? (Define age, marital status, socioeconomic alignment, etc. Say as much about your potential visitor as possible.)
Anyone between the ages of 18-70. This includes potential associates to work for us but primarily those in business positions seeking the products/services we offer.
For the purposes of this redesign, which of these demographics are most important?
Answer here.
What primary action should a primary user take when visiting your site? (Examples include: registering for an account, subscribing to a newsletter, making a donation, reading editorial content, referring a friend.)
Submitting a form or calling asking for more info on a product or service. Eventually, I would like to be able to upload “eBooks” for website patrons to download in exchange for their contact info.
What user needs does your existing site fulfill?
It informs users of our products and services.
What needs aren’t being met? Where does the site fall short?
We have a high bounce-rate (upwards of 56 percent) from the front page and most other pages. Average duration on the site is 1.5 minutes. It seems visitors are disappointed with what they find or at least are uninterested. This we want to resolve.
Has your current site undergone formal or informal usability testing?
[ ] Yes
[ X ] No
If you answered ‘Yes’, please describe the methods (examples include formal lab testing, informal guerilla testing, paper prototypes, low-fi clickable prototypes) and the findings you observed.
Answer here.
Why else do you seek a redesign?
More value for our dollars than received from our current provider.
About Your Brand
Describe in as few sentences or words as possible the feelings you wish yournew site to evoke, and the brand attributes you want it to convey. (Sample feelings might include: warmth, friendliness, reassurance, comfort, or excitement. Sample brand attributes might include: caring, honesty, humor, professionalism, intelligence, technological savvy, sophistication, reliability, and trustworthiness.)
Professional, techy, reliability, to-the-point, fun, humorous
Using adjectives and short phrases, describe the site’s desired look and feel. (“Easy to look at, edgy, classic, up-to-date, crisp, modern, traditional, understated,” etc.)
Clean, simple, edgy, Apple-esque, up-to-date, inviting, friendly.
Do you have a visual identity established, or is that something you need designed or evolved?
We do have a logo.
Features and Scope
Does your plan include community or social features, such as user profiles, commenting, RSS feeds, forums, sharing, friend lists, rating/voting, user-generated content, etc.?
That is under consideration. Perhaps RSS feeds, rating, and comments.
Does your plan include media-intensive components such as video, audio, podcasts and other rich media?
Yes. Initially video.
Is your current site powered by a content management system or publishing platform?
[ X ] Yes
[ ] No
If you answered ‘Yes’, which CMS or platform are you using?
Drupal
If you answered ‘Yes’, what do you like/dislike about it?
It is clunky and restrictive.
What is the estimated number of pages for your site?
Shot in the dark: 100
Design technology
Describe any technological requirements you haven’t mentioned in this Planner.
Answer here.
To deliver the best experience to the most users and to build pages that will last, we use modern standards-based methods. As a result, our sites may not look exactly the same in an old, non-compliant browser like Internet Explorer 7 or 8 as they do in newer browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer 10 and 11.
[ ] My site has to look and work exactly the same way in older as it does in newer browsers.
[ X ] I understand the site may not look or function the same in outdated browsers such as IE 6-8.
We understand this is a lot of questions to ask, but it is time well spent to speed up the design and development process for your project.
Please save the document as “organization name”.doc (replacing “organization name” with the name of your particular organization), and email the document to .