Project resource
Turn a healthcare question into a clear project brief.
A useful brief gives people a shared starting point: the workflow, the question and what to explore next. Use this guide to make your thinking easy to discuss with a clinician, builder or mentor.
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This guide expands the “Problem brief” introduced in Programs into a worksheet you can use.
Start with the workflow.
Describe what happens today before choosing a technology. Explain who encounters the difficulty, where it appears and what makes the experience harder than it needs to be.
- Which roles are involved?
- What happens before, during and after the difficult step?
- What would a more useful experience help someone do?
Choose one question to explore.
Keep the first question focused enough for a team to examine. A workflow sketch, an interface outline or a small prototype can help turn a broad idea into something concrete.
How might a care team see the next handoff step more clearly?
Then name the workflow you mean, the roles involved and the part you want to understand first.
Make the evidence clear.
Separate what you have observed from what you expect. Keep a source or explanation beside each observation, and write down the assumptions the team still needs to examine.
- What we know — Describe the observation and where it came from.
- What we assume — Name the explanation or expectation you want to explore.
- What we need to learn — Turn the uncertainty into a specific question.
Define a useful first artifact.
Choose something another person can inspect. Explain what it would help you explore, which materials you would use and what feedback would be useful.
- What will you make or map first?
- Which question will that artifact help you examine?
- What would you like a reviewer to look at?
Fictional practice example: a clearer handoff
- 1. THE QUESTION
How might a care team see the next handoff step more clearly?
- 2. PEOPLE AND SETTING
An outgoing care team and an incoming care team at a shift handoff.
- 3. THE WORKFLOW TODAY
Premise: Open tasks and next steps appear on separate lists, which the incoming team needs to piece together.
- 4. A MORE USEFUL EXPERIENCE
Make the next step and responsible role easy to find.
- 5. EVIDENCE AND ASSUMPTIONS
Evidence to gather: Review notes from a walkthrough of the sketch.
Assumption to explore: Grouping a task, next step and responsible role could make the handoff easier to follow.
- 6. THE FIRST ARTIFACT
Proposed: A paper workflow sketch and a simple screen outline showing those three elements together.
- 7. MATERIALS AND PERMISSIONS
Synthetic task labels, such as “Task A,” and role labels created for the example.
- 8. FEEDBACK AND NEXT STEP
Feedback request: What context is missing, and which handoff step would you explore first?
Next artifact: A revised sketch and a short walkthrough of the selected step.
Prepare for a good conversation.
Describe people by role and use public or synthetic examples. Record any material or permission questions alongside the brief. Bring the open questions as well as the idea: they give collaborators a practical place to begin.
- A clear question in plain language.
- Enough workflow context to understand the need.
- Observations and assumptions kept separate.
- A first artifact and a focused request for feedback.
Bring your question to LAHI.
Use your brief to make the first conversation specific. Explore the clinician pathway or compare the ways you can contribute.