A project brief for an old category entrance that no longer fits the business
A useful brief can describe a limited change without pretending that every design decision is already settled. It should establish the evidence, the desired behaviour, the owners and the checks that will make the first delivery reviewable.
This fictional example concerns an old “Pumps” category. The business no longer sells new pumps through that part of its site, but still handles selected parts enquiries and service questions. The old category address remains in brochures and supplier correspondence. Its current page mixes withdrawn sales cards with a general contact button.
State the problem without choosing a misleading shortcut
The source inventory finds three kinds of entrance: a link to the category itself, a bookmark to a historical product page and a link to a current spare-parts page. They do not all represent the same customer intention.
The initial proposal is to send the whole category to the contact page. That would remove the misleading sales display, but it would also lose an opportunity to explain what the business currently handles. It would not determine the proper treatment of the individual historical products.
The agreed brief is narrower and more precise: make the old category entrance explain the approved current scope and provide distinct routes for parts and service enquiries. Individual product retirement decisions remain a related but separately reviewed inventory.
Write the first-delivery brief
Audience: returning buyers and supplier contacts using the old category address.
Observed problem: the category still appears to offer new pump sales, although the business owner has approved only parts-enquiry and service-review routes for this area.
Required result: a visitor arriving at the old category understands the current scope, can choose the appropriate route and can retain the original reference when asking about a historical item.
Existing systems: the current website and receiving enquiry tool remain. No stock, scheduling or quoting platform is replaced by this delivery.
Content authority: the commercial owner approves the public scope statement; the service lead approves what information is needed to review a service question; the catalogue owner identifies current parts and historical product pages.
Language responsibility: the named reviewers approve the corresponding English and Bosnian category explanations and the labels that distinguish the enquiry routes.
This brief is a decision record, not a claim that the implementation already exists.
Define the boundaries and dependencies
The new category explanation must not imply that every pump can be repaired or that a historical part remains available. It should explain that the relevant team reviews the specific reference and requirement.
The project needs the approved category text, the two receiving routes and a list of important old entrances. If a route depends on a provider field or permission that has not been inspected, that remains an explicit dependency. The first release does not include a technical diagnosis tool, live availability or appointment booking.
Historical product pages require their own decision. A category restructure should not automatically treat every product as interchangeable or assign a replacement. The retired-item guide explains that separate work.
Agree acceptance examples before estimating
The brief names three checks. A visitor using the old category address can understand the current scope and choose the parts or service route. A visitor starting from a historical product can retain its reference in the appropriate enquiry. A current spare-parts link still opens the intended current page.
For each language, review the explanations and cross-language labels. Inspect what the receiving staff see after each enquiry path. An unanswered suitability or availability question should remain a question, not become a confirmed service or sale.
The resulting proposal can be estimated against defined work: category content and routing, relevant form context, old-address checks and editor handover. New discoveries may change the scope, but they can be discussed against a clear starting point rather than an undefined request to “tidy up the website”.
Use project preparation to create a brief for your own task, or describe an existing entrance that causes confusion.