Product Brief

A product brief is a one-page document that captures the problem, target user, proposed solution sketch, success signals, and open questions — enough for stakeholders to agree direction before you write a full PRD.

Teams skip straight to specs and discover misalignment late. A brief forces explicit trade-offs early and gives consultants a client-ready artefact after discovery workshops.

After intake or brainstorm, before /prd. When you need investor or exec sign-off on scope without engineering detail.

1. Problem statement (who hurts, how, today).
2. Target segment and primary persona.
3. Solution hypothesis (what you will build, what you will not).
4. Success metrics (leading indicators for the next 90 days).
5. Constraints and dependencies.
6. Open questions and recommended next step (usually PRD or validation).

• Fits on one screen.
• Every claim ties to evidence or is tagged (assumption).
• Non-goals are explicit.

• Feature list disguised as a brief.
• Missing success metrics.
• No named decision-maker or approval ask.

Northvale Systems product brief — Unified supplier onboarding portal (Q3). Problem: procurement teams re-key vendor data across three legacy systems; onboarding takes 18 days median. User: mid-market procurement ops lead (500–2,000 SKUs). Solution: self-serve vendor portal with master-data sync to ERP — not a full SRM suite. Success: onboarding ≤7 days; 80% of new vendors complete without email chase. Non-goals: payments, contract redlining. Ask: VP Procurement approval to fund PRD and pilot with two plants.

PulseWell product brief — Manager burnout risk nudges. Problem: HR sees rising leave usage but managers lack early signals before burnout escalates. User: people manager in 200–800 employee UK firms. Solution: weekly anonymized team risk score + two suggested actions — not clinical diagnosis. Success: 30% of managers act on a nudge within 7 days; pilot NPS ≥40. Open question: GDPR DPIA scope for aggregated team scores. Ask: CEO sign-off to proceed to PRD and 90-day design partner cohort.

Harbor Consulting product brief — Reshoring readiness diagnostic (digital add-on). Problem: factory clients want a faster pre-workshop assessment before committing to a six-week engagement. User: plant GM evaluating reshoring grants. Solution: 45-minute online diagnostic producing a scored report and workshop agenda — consultants still deliver the onsite phase. Success: 25% of diagnostics convert to paid workshops within 60 days. Non-goals: replacing senior consultant judgment on the factory floor. Ask: practice lead approval to package as a fixed-fee SKU.

Clearwater Initiative product brief — Community borehole health dashboard. Problem: field teams report pump failures late; donors question maintenance ROI. User: regional WASH coordinator with 40–120 sites. Solution: SMS + photo check-in workflow and traffic-light site map — not a full IoT sensor rollout. Success: mean time to repair down 20% in pilot district; monthly donor report auto-generated. Ask: program director approval before grant amendment for pilot budget.

Run /brief in the workspace Coach. Sculptor emits BRIEF-001 with refs to SCOPE-, SEG-, and BRAIN-* when your pack includes them.