The Frame : Project Foundations

Probably the single most important factor that can make a project fly or sink is a shared understanding of why the work exists and what success looks like.

This isn't new. We used to get 'briefs'. Those were good times. But these days we find work is often more ambiguous and interdependent. Producing a set brief can be tricky or time consuming for our client partners. so we try and short circuit that process by co-designing a frame together.

We call this framing because we see it as defining the shape the work seeks to fill — especially what's at the core, and where the edges lie. We've found it's a great way to get on the same page (literally a single page) and set ourselves and our partners up for success together.

This board is our go-to framing template. We usually seek to preload it as much as we can based on an initial understanding and then iterate with our client partners in Miro until we're all confident that we have a shared understanding of what we're about to do.

It's also a pretty great flag that if you can't complete this board together with your team or client, it's probably time to take a step back and reassess why not.

Start at outcomes and roll down from there. Loop back to a purpose statement at the end to synthesise and sum everything up.

Enjoy.