Thoughtful takeaways, and on the surface, it makes a ton of sense. I think one could also make the case that going from zero to build in under six seconds means a brief is more necessary, not less. It's the one time in the process that we'll be able to "slow think". Prototyping requires a faster kind of thinking becuase you are thinking, designing, and building all at once. And this is coming from someone who has, for over a decade, preached the gospel of iterative design, "responsive marketing," "fuzzy disciplines," and people with blurred talents and overlapping skills doing more than they ever have.
AI blows all of these past dynamics out of the water. Briefs are vulnerable to being snapshots in time. But the greatest strength may be that they force us to slow down in a world where timelines for going from think to execute are more compressed than they've ever been.
I think we would both agree that the brief is not going to be the single source of truth, as it once was. I do think it can greatly influence the build/production process and provide some grounding if/when things inevitably go off the rails (because they always go off the rails)
David, I appreciate your perspective (and the history!). One thought I'd consider in the mix is that there's no reason why we can't sit with a prototype the way we're used to sitting with a brief. Here's a random, different example - for my corporate website, I use lovable. Because it is so easy to go from prototyping to publishing, I have no brief. And instead, over the last ten days, I've made probably two dozen edits as I'd make a change, let it age and then add something more to it. With that in mind, I'd suggest the brief is the living prototype (and vice versa) and there's no reason why it cannot be the single source of truth.
Agree with you on the need for agencies and marketers to do a complete rethink on where value is created and how.
What I would add is that the brief (and the skills involved in creating powerful briefs) shifts from being a brief to kick off the "process" to becoming the prompt and the input into generating the prototype. Those who used to create briefs and assess "the work" are (or should be) well suited to lead this transition because, like a brief, a prompt provides the context, and then the savvy eyes to assess if the prototype is right or needs further adjustment.
Thoughtful takeaways, and on the surface, it makes a ton of sense. I think one could also make the case that going from zero to build in under six seconds means a brief is more necessary, not less. It's the one time in the process that we'll be able to "slow think". Prototyping requires a faster kind of thinking becuase you are thinking, designing, and building all at once. And this is coming from someone who has, for over a decade, preached the gospel of iterative design, "responsive marketing," "fuzzy disciplines," and people with blurred talents and overlapping skills doing more than they ever have.
AI blows all of these past dynamics out of the water. Briefs are vulnerable to being snapshots in time. But the greatest strength may be that they force us to slow down in a world where timelines for going from think to execute are more compressed than they've ever been.
I think we would both agree that the brief is not going to be the single source of truth, as it once was. I do think it can greatly influence the build/production process and provide some grounding if/when things inevitably go off the rails (because they always go off the rails)
David, I appreciate your perspective (and the history!). One thought I'd consider in the mix is that there's no reason why we can't sit with a prototype the way we're used to sitting with a brief. Here's a random, different example - for my corporate website, I use lovable. Because it is so easy to go from prototyping to publishing, I have no brief. And instead, over the last ten days, I've made probably two dozen edits as I'd make a change, let it age and then add something more to it. With that in mind, I'd suggest the brief is the living prototype (and vice versa) and there's no reason why it cannot be the single source of truth.
Agree with you on the need for agencies and marketers to do a complete rethink on where value is created and how.
What I would add is that the brief (and the skills involved in creating powerful briefs) shifts from being a brief to kick off the "process" to becoming the prompt and the input into generating the prototype. Those who used to create briefs and assess "the work" are (or should be) well suited to lead this transition because, like a brief, a prompt provides the context, and then the savvy eyes to assess if the prototype is right or needs further adjustment.
Blake, I think that's a fair point. The one build I would have is that it also becomes much more of a living artifact as the time execute collapses.
Absolutely. No more "finish and be done." It's now iterate, iterate, iterate.