Every project needs a proper briefing to explain how your 3D website should work, look like and note important details. At best, your briefing will explain your project to an uninformed person in such a way that they can understand it without further questions. So let's create a super detailed briefing!
1. Prepare documents and files
Use a document like Google Docs for your briefing. You can also combine several documents and files as a briefing, but then you have to organize them properly.
In this case, one document leads the briefing and refers to other attached files, e.g. images, videos, PDFs or links in different places.
Also consider using a visualization tool like Miro. Miro makes it possible to summarize files on a kind of whiteboard, create workflows and work on them together.
Make the type of presentation in your briefing dependent on the project and the files you want to include. Choose a form of presentation that is easy to understand for everyone not involved in your business.
In the briefing, make sure to separate the project itself from information about your company and not to mix them up. If you include detailed information, ask yourself first whether it is absolutely necessary at this point.
You may think that more information never hurts, but you run the risk of unnecessarily confusing your counterpart. This will only result in more effort and time spent reworking and following up to clear up this confusion.
Make sure that if you want to include existing files in your briefing, do not simply attach them but format them first. Always remember: Your briefing should be self-explanatory without the need to ask further questions.
If your counterpart can't find his way around, the information is not clear or critical information is missing, then the briefing is not good.
Use the following points as a guide for your briefing:
- A clear structure
- Detailed descriptions only in the necessary places
- Clear classification of multiple documents and files
- Simple, understandable language
- Concise but detailed description
2. Write an introduction to your project
Think of your briefing a bit like an essay. In the end, it's all about your big project. You don't want this document to be skimmed over because it's too long, but you also don't want someone to have to read it four times because they just can't get through it.
So give your project a big name, add a nice banner image and start with an introduction.
Summarize what your 3D website is about in as few sentences as possible. Name which of the 3 3D website types your project falls into and roughly how it should work. Describe briefly how the 3D website fits into your overall business strategy.
At this point you just want to briefly describe what it's all about, don’t make it too long.
3. Define your budget, timeline and contractual requirements
In this area you collect the most important facts and figures about your project. If you already have a specific budget or framework in mind, you should mention this.
Likewise, create an intensive schedule that highlights important milestones.
Lastly, you can mention the contractual requirements that you want for the collaboration. There should be room for negotiation here, so think of it as ideas you're putting out there.
The following questions can help you formulate:
- What budget/framework do you imagine?
- What budget are you planning for individual areas of the project?
- What time frame do you plan for the entire project and individual areas?
- To what extent is the time frame linked to specific strategies?
- Which payment model do you imagine?
- What is the maximum amount you would like to pay in advance?
- Do you want to incorporate milestone payments? If yes, when and how much?
- How can the success of the project be measured?
- What happens if individual parties violate their obligations?
- How is copyright regulated?
- What acceptance criteria do you want?
- What guarantees and obligations should there be?
- Which cancellation options would you like to reserve?
4. Identify objectives and requirements
Of course the most important things come first. Your goal here is to explain to you what your motivations are for the project and what goals you hope to achieve. If there are specific requirements that are an absolute must, you can mention them here.
The following questions can help you:
- What is the goal of the 3D website?
- What problems are you dealing with that you want to solve?
- What part does this project play in your larger business/marketing strategy?
- What are your motivations for starting this project?
- Why do you choose a 3D website over a traditional one?
- Under what circumstances can the project be considered a success?
- How should the new 3D website deliver added value to your company? And how high should this added value be and how do you want to measure it?
5. Make a detailed description of your 3D website
We have now reached the point of describing as precisely as possible the 3D website experience, how it should ultimately look, function and feel.
To do this, you can put yourself once in the shoes of your future user. Imagine them visiting your finished 3D website while you can describe exactly what happens.
While doing so please consider your type and 3D website experience and which technical rules apply to each of them.
Use the following questions depending on the experience type for guidance:
3D enhanced Website
- How does the 3D website function in detail?
- What does a typical website visit by a user look like?
- How many pages does the website have? Can you list and describe them?
- Is a redesign or a completely new website needed?
- How does the user get an immersive feeling?
- Is there a narrative or storytelling aspect integrated into the 3D experience? If so, can you explain it in detail?
- Which 3D environments, elements and style should be used?
3D Scrollytelling
- How does the 3D Scrollytelling experience function in detail?
- What does a typical website visit by a user look like?
- Does the scrollytelling experience have only one or several pages?
- Should this be used as a homepage, landing page or a one-page only website?
- How does the user get an immersive feeling?
- Describe the animations that take place during scrollytelling
- Is there a narrative or storytelling aspect integrated into the 3D experience? If so, can you explain it in detail?
- Are the animations real-time or pre rendered or a mix?
- How many sections should the page have?
- Are certain interactive elements included? If so, can you explain them in detail?
- Which 3D environments, elements and style should be used?
Immersive experience
- How does the Immersive experience function in detail?
- What does a typical website visit by a user look like?
- How does the user get an immersive feeling?
- How do users navigate within the 3D environment?
- Are there features like spatial audio, haptic feedback, or other sensory enhancements?
- Is there a narrative or storytelling aspect integrated into the 3D experience? If so, can you explain it in detail?
- What’s the goal of the immersive experience?
- How is the immersive experience integrated into your website, or should it replace it?
- Can you describe the overall user interface design of the 3D experience?
- Which 3D environments, elements and style should be used?
- Can you explain the technical functionality of the experience?
6. Add Inspiration and References
Inspiration and references help to present various aspects of your project in a more understandable way. Use these in all possible places and add detailed and explanatory descriptions so everyone stands what they are for.
You can search for inspiration for the website itself or just for individual parts, effects and 3D elements, the layout or something entirely different.
Always make sure to display this inspiration not only in the document but also in Miro where brainstorming is much easier. In miro you can collect lots of inspiration in the form of images, group them and then label them. Other people can also make simple comments there.
By the way, you can find good inspiration on the following websites:
https://www.awwwards.com/
https://www.landing.love/
https://www.lapa.ninja/
https://www.pinterest.com/
To fuel your creative inspiration, you can use the following questions:
- Are there any 3D websites that you like and want to use as inspiration?
- Can you think of any specific 3D websites that you can use to show what you don't like?
- Can you find references for specific effects, 3D elements and scenes on your 3D website?
- Are there certain 3D websites that you would like to take inspiration from for the layout, structure, design or something else?
7. Add important resources
Bring in existing resources such as 3D files or documents that describe individual areas in more detail. These documents are already detailed and simple adjustments are enough to properly incorporate them into the briefing.
Make large amounts of files available neatly via a cloud such as Google Drive and create references to them in your briefing document.
If certain files and information are confidential, consider signing an NDA before releasing them.
8. Include background information about your company
Include background information about your company, products and strategies in a separate area. You don't want to mix this information with the requirements of the project. Nevertheless, the details are important in order to give outsiders a general insight into what is happening.If you already have an existing website or active social media profiles, you can also refer to them.
This information helps outsiders get a well-founded picture of your company and understand it in depth. If you work with an agency, they will help you develop strategies and advise you on how best to set up your 3D website inside of the overall strategy. All of this information is needed for this.
You can use the following questions as a guide. Of course, only answer those that seem relevant to you:
- What does your company do?
- What products/services do you sell?
- What important information do you need to know about yourself?
- What situation are you in right now?
- What strategies and missions are you pursuing?
- Are there clear figures on sales, size, etc. for your company?
- What is the main goal of the company?
- What is the story behind your company?
- Who are the customers that your company tries to help?
- Who are the people in charge of making decisions in the company?
- Can you describe what it feels like to work in your company?
- What does the company do that makes it special?
- What are the company's goals for the coming years?
9. Create a whiteboard
A whiteboard helps in many ways to better present information and connections. You can create this already when you are working on the inspiration or when you are dealing with the technical aspect of the website.
I also like to make sketches and bring them into Miro. Present various animations and functional steps of the website as graphically as possible and then explain them. The better you can describe your vision, the easier it will be to continue working with it afterwards
You can also bring in different ideas and present them. It's not about what's right or wrong, but rather how you best imagine your project at the moment..
Remember, this is just the preliminary work. If you're not sure yet and a lot of information is missing, then that's not a problem. Write down any open questions and approach an agency that can help you with intensive planning support.
The following questions can help you create a whiteboard:
- Have I collected inspiration as a mood board?
- Have I presented and explained how my website should work visually?
- Have I visualized individual functions, processes or user flows?
- Have I explained how the project fits into the larger strategy?
- Do I have different ideas and concepts that I would like to compare?
- Do I have any questions or specific ambiguities that I would like to clarify?
10. Add organizational details
These are your requirements for how the project should flow and be organized. It includes the responsible people, type of communication, exchange, feedback and more.
This area is primarily managed by the respective agency. It is all the more important that you clarify your position in your briefing and define what is important to you in order to achieve a successful collaboration.
This way you can specifically include questions for which you would like an answer from the agency. You should also make it clear to yourself how your team will participate in the project.
The following questions are ideas for important organizational details:
- Who are my responsible team members?
- Who is the contact person for which area for the agency?
- How and when can my team be reached?
- What are my team's contact details that the agency needs?
- Are there certain things to consider when exchanging?
- How are files and resources exchanged?
- Where and when do meetings take place and who takes part?
- Who is allowed to make decisions and carry out an acceptance?
- Which tools are used for collaboration?
- What is important to me for a successful collaboration?
Final words
Creating a briefing is a one-off effort of a few hours that will get your 3D website projects off to the best possible start. Not only do you help yourself to think through the project as clearly as possible and put it in writing, but you also make it easy for anyone outside to understand it.
You can now give this briefing to the candidates with whom you plan to work. The communication that follows will be easier and save both of you a lot. You effectively prevent errors and provide the best basis for developing the project strategy together.
