Making Great Product Briefs

Good morning Product People! Hope the end of summer is treating you well :)

One of the most crucial parts of any product development project is making a brief-- a written and visual document providing direction related to the vision of the product. Here's my breakdown of how I approach this for standard products:

?? LETS BRIEF ??

A Product Brief Can Be Used To

• Get designers started on a visual ID if a product needs sketches or renderings
• Allow a factory or broker to show options and begin pricing
• Establish buy-in from stakeholders in a requirements document if a collaborative process

Brief Notes

• Can start out shorthand, depending on expectations of who you’re working with
• The more detailed the better if you’re going direct to factory overseas
• I do them in Keynote, Google Slides also a great option
• Design of the brief doesn’t matter, content does

Inside the Brief

- List out all the products that will be worked on and and their components - packaging, accessories, anything in the box.

• If using a broker include target costs.
• If internal, map out final price points (don’t include to factory)
• Include initial quantity desired

- Go through line colors

- Walk through primary product concept

- Go through any standout functions or included technology that needs to be called out

- Breakdown individual products with key notes, materials, visual examples, links to references

Next Steps After Briefing

• Walk through with your broker or factory to make sure they understand
• Make a list of questions together with your factory or broker you can then answer and provide
• Make a list with your broker or factory of all next steps and who is responsible, with target date for completion
• Ensure when you are pricing, that you take into account packaging, documentation, shipping and any import fees.

I'm kicking off a project with myself and some friends using the Pietra platform, and documenting it along the way. Here's a video recap of the brief I created to kick us off that I'll send to the Pietra team that shows how this process works when i use it in real life:

VIDEO LINK

I'll be documenting this project more as it goes through the stages.?Pietra?has also been kind enough to give any Product People readers 30% off for the first year with the code OREN30 if you want a great marketplace partner to help your project come to life.

???FACTORIES???

Notebooks, mechanical pencils and more... read the full breakdown:

Tons of factory and product options (these are great for corporate merch as well, saving way more than using promotional schwag companies)

300 piece MOQ notebooks from $.82-2.00 with different finishes on front, PU leather, stamped felt etc

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Notebook-Factory-Custom-Logo-Notepads-Budget_1600352646096.html?

Paper goods Factory: https://teamconcepts.en.alibaba.com/

High end option $1.30, 100 MOQ

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Custom-Silk-Ribbon-Bookmark-Fabric-Linen_1600121290695.html

https://banana.en.alibaba.com/company_profile.html

Mechanical pencil - 3000 unit moq, but also only .30

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/2022-new-luxury-0-5-0_1600581391632.html?

Pens & pencils GOAT

https://langterm.en.alibaba.com/

1000 $.38 6 piece colored pencil set

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/6-Colors-Kids-Colored-Wood-Pencil_1600517146008.html

Bigger charcoal and art sets - art supplies

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/49pcs-charcoal-and-pastel-pencils-sketch_1600375124360.html

I would be bundling supplies with content for art all day if I was building in this niche

https://chinajoan.en.alibaba.com/company_profile.html

Black, jumbo, fun custom erasers

https://custompencil.en.alibaba.com/minisiteentrance.html?

Or these absolutely sick dragon notebooks

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/New-A5-Size-Dragon-Resin-Writing_1600504698762.html?

?? AESTHETICS ??

Excerpts from my project moodboards:

Need this Tommy Hilfiger shirt in my life!

Why do cars no longer have these paint jobs? These are sick...

?? BUILDERS BUILD ??

We're back this week, and if you've never jumped into our podcast this is a great place to start. James, Colin and I discuss

• What we all actually do for a living
• Goals for the rest of the year
• Colin's purchase of a home with a falcon mew
• Ideas we'd build if we had more time (steal these!)

Live on all platforms, listen?HERE.

I appreciate you reading, and stoked to see what you create!

– Oren

Twitter

P.S.

Check out 2 newsletters from my best friends Colin & James

NanoFlips - Learn the art of buying, growing and selling websites:?https://www.nanoflips.com/

Free Smoke - A Cannabis Business newsletter by Colin Landforce:?https://freesmoke.xyz/