When creating a brief, it is important to design a clear, engaging, and easy-to-follow experience for community users. The recommendations below will help improve participation rates and encourage richer, more thoughtful responses.

Brief title

• Use a clear and simple title
• The title is the first thing users will see, so it should clearly explain the topic or activity
• Avoid internal terminology or unclear project names

Brief description

The brief description should clearly explain what users are expected to do before they begin.

Include:

• what the activity is about
• what users will need to complete the task
• whether photos, videos, or audio responses are required
• any important instructions users should know before starting

Important recommendations

• Always include incentive information
  Clearly mention any rewards or incentives users will receive for completing the brief.
• Provide instructions upfront
  If users need to upload photos, videos, or complete tasks in a specific environment, explain this at the start of the brief.
• Consider the user environment
  If tasks must be completed at home or with certain products nearby, tell users before they begin.

Example:

Please start this brief only when you are at home and able to show your current breakfast cereals.

Writing effective questions

Make every question self-contained

Users:

• cannot return to previous questions
• may not remember earlier instructions
• will not know what questions are coming next

Each question should therefore include all necessary context and instructions.

Use warm-up questions

Start with simple and engaging questions to help users ease into the activity.

This helps participants ease into the task and builds momentum for deeper responses.

Example:

Tell us about the last time you used this product — what was the experience like?

Encourage detailed responses

Let users know that thoughtful and detailed answers are valuable.

Example

We’d love to hear your honest thoughts — feel free to share as much detail as possible.

You can also use info images before questions to help set expectations and encourage creativity.

Example

Use your imagination and be as detailed as possible — there are no wrong answers.

Use follow-up prompts

Follow-up prompts help encourage deeper and more meaningful responses.

Example:

Can you elaborate on that a little more?

Why do you feel that way?

What difference would that make to you?

Is there anything else you would add?

Avoid leading or binary questions

Avoid questions that only encourage yes/no answers.

Instead of:

Do you like this?

Use:

What do you like or dislike about this?

This helps collect more nuanced feedback.

Use projective techniques

Projective questions encourage emotional and imaginative thinking.

Example

If this brand were a person, what personality would it have?

Imagine writing a letter to the brand — what would you say?

If you could change one thing, what would it be?

Add light gamification where appropriate

Simple creative tasks can make briefs more engaging.

Example

You’re the CEO for a day — what would you change?

Design your dream version of this service — what does it look like?

Keep activities simple and relevant to avoid overwhelming users.

Question structure and engagement

• Use a mix of question types to keep users engaged
• Combine open text, multi-select, photo and video responses where appropriate
• Video responses can sometimes provide richer feedback than text alone
• Group follow-up questions logically to maintain context and flow

Brief length and user fatigue

• Keep briefs focused and concise
• Aim for a maximum of 20 questions where possible
• Remove unnecessary or repetitive questions to reduce user fatigue

Testing before launch

Always test the brief before publishing.

Before launch:

• Preview the full brief
• Test all logic and routing
• Review question clarity
• Switch to mobile view and test the user experience
• Check all media upload requirements

Important

Most users complete briefs on mobile devices, so mobile testing is essential.