Design
5 min read
Why the brief has six lines
We tested briefs from three to twelve lines with 212 teams. Six was the longest brief people finished every day.
Written by
Mei Chen
The first version of Shizuri wrote as much as it found. People read the top and skipped the rest, which meant the brief was worst exactly on the days it mattered most.
What happens to line seven
So we ran a simple test. Different teams got briefs capped at three, six, nine and twelve lines for a month. We measured one thing: did people read to the end?
Six lines was the longest brief that more than 90% of people finished every day. At nine, completion dropped to 61%. At twelve, people went back to their inbox.
The cap forces the product to make the hard call, instead of passing it to you. Everything that doesn’t fit is still one tap away, under “Everything else”.
Keep reading
Quiet, in their words.
I used to start the day with 300 unread. Now I start it with six lines and a coffee.
The sources are the point. I can forward a line to my CEO and she can check it herself.
Quiet hours gave me my afternoons back. The two things that came through actually needed me.
Our Osaka and Lisbon teams finally overlap, even though they never meet on a call.
We turned it on for 40 people on a Thursday. By Monday nobody asked for the weekly status meeting.
It says “I couldn't find that” when it can't. That is why I trust the rest of it.
Try one quiet morning. Keep it if it gives you back an hour.
Tomorrow at 07:00, one quiet page.
Connect two sources in four minutes. Your first brief arrives tomorrow morning, before the first meeting.