writing good briefs - the first step on the road to digital innovation
DESCRIPTION
Arts Council Wales invited me to talk about what constitutes a good brief so I talked in detail about a few examples. We worked with Tate, National Museums Scotland and Bristol Zoo on some great briefs the resulted in award-winning projects. To wrap things up I offer some advice on writing a great brief. Put your stakes in the sand!TRANSCRIPT
@thoughtbenBen Templeton
Writing good briefs
Web
Mobile
Installation
Outdoors
“Playful learning”
School ground games Board gamesPhysical games
Families & Kids
Raise awareness of Arkive’s archive
Mobile game
35,000 so fariOS & Android
15,000 downloadswithin 2 weeks
Casual audiencePlayful experienceOutside the gallery
2,500 artwork‘tags’
@thoughtben
iOS65,000
Nokia55,000
110,000 so fariOS & Nokia OVI
Bring archive to life
Innovate & Engage
BristolZooGardens
“Wouldn’t it be cool if...”
You could strike a pose to unlock an animal!?
Bring the space to life
Engage with exhibits
Innovate
Launching May 17th 2013
Online +in Gallery
Science of painInstantly fun
A good brief is...
freedom...?
A good brief is...
freedom...?
A better brief has...
restrictions!
Common fears...
Technology!?Focus on the audience, the outcome, the story
Buying something complicatedPut a support contract in place. Technology breaks.
How much detail?Don’t wildly guess, be honest.If the vision is clear, lay it out. Don’t be precious.
Who to commission?Engage the community.Talk with agencies because people and communication are important
How briefs commonly fail...
Asking too muchOnly so much can be achieved. Think small and well formed.
Not practicalAn idea might be great in theory, impossible in practice.
Too verbose / too vagueWe’re not academics, keep it as short.Be clear what you want!
Technological restraintsTechnology isn’t an issue, we can overcome it.Our techies can play nice with your techies.
Admirable brief-writing behaviour...
A visionA clear ideal and a drive to follow it through.
BraveryNot just following the crowd. Roll the dice!
CollaborationWork with us, not against. Get involved! Contribute knowledge.
FlexibilityConcepts evolve. Plan for unforeseen problems / new potential
ClarityNo surprises down the line please. What do you / don’t you know?
The 8 stakes of brief-writing...
Tone / styleChallenging / naughty / authoritative / playful / dramatic / serious ...
AudienceSpecifically who is it for? What do they like? How do they behave?
ContentText / images / video / user generated / academic / crowd sourced / stories
InteractionGamey / tool / feedback / collaborative / competitive / touch / gesture / mouse...
InspirationProjects / activity you admire. Ideas that can be ‘re-appropriated’
ResultUnderstanding / awareness / ‘Likes’ / site traffic / social shares / UGC etc
ContextWhere / when / why / how is the project used? Political / social / surroundings
PlatformInnovative / safe / PHP / mobile / TV / audio / Facebook / Twitter...
You only need THREE for a good brief
Tone / style“Challenge the audience member to think for themselves. Dramatic, profound.”
AudienceSpecifically who is it for? What do they like? How do they behave?
ContentText / images / video / user generated / academic / crowd sourced / stories
Interaction“Relaxed, calming. A dip-in, dip-out experience. Delve for more.”
InspirationProjects / activity you admire. Ideas that can be ‘re-appropriated’
ResultUnderstanding / awareness / ‘Likes’ / site traffic / social shares / UGC etc
Context“Our audience should feel comfortable & safe, so most likely at home, at night.”
PlatformInnovative / safe / PHP / mobile / TV / audio / Facebook / Twitter...
@thoughtbenBen Templeton
Exercise / Questions
@thoughtben
Links
“Magic Tate Ball” press page - http://www.thoughtden.co.uk/magictateball“Magic Tate Ball” Guardian Culture Pros - http://tdn.lv/MTBguardian
“Zoom” overview - http://www.thoughtden.co.uk/zoom
“Survival” download - http://tdn.lv/playsurvival / http://bit.ly/survivalandroid“Survival” press page - http://tdn.lv/s7uzJJ
“Capture The Museum” - http://www.capturethemuseum.com
“OUCH” the game - http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/ouch“OUCH” Guardian Culture Pros - http://tdn.lv/ouchpress2
Further Thought Den work - http://www.thoughtden.co.uk/portfolioThought Den discussion / analysis - http://www.thoughtden.co.uk/blog