WORKED EXAMPLE / LOOP
A fictional example showing how the goal, customer expectation, and operational uncertainty become part of a useful brief.
01 / THE ROUGH REQUEST
“Create a weekday campaign for our bike shops. We have room for more service work and want to reach local commuters.”
The request gives a direction, but leaves the capacity, audience, and service promise untested.
02 / THE CLEARER BRIEF · EXCERPT
PUT THE CLEARER BRIEF TO WORK
The complete instruction keeps the six-day constraint and service details. Unknowns stay visible.
Create a weekday campaign proposal for fictional Loop’s three bicycle-repair shops. GOAL Increase profitable completed Tuesday–Thursday service work. Management estimates spare mechanic capacity; actual available capacity and profitable service mix remain UNRESOLVED. AUDIENCE HYPOTHESIS Local commuters may value getting back on their bikes. Their fit and demand are UNRESOLVED, not established facts. KNOWN SERVICE AND BOOKING CONTEXT Routine adjustments and safety checks are usually same day. Faults and ordered parts may take longer. Online booking reserves DROP-OFF only, not a collection time. Two shops offer an optional pre-check; the third assesses on arrival. Additional problems may emerge then. Customers ask, “Will I be riding home?” UNRESOLVED PROMISE What qualifies as an eligible standard service, what recent exceptions reveal, and when each shop can give a dependable collection estimate need confirmation. Do not imply booking confirms eligibility or same-day collection. Varied shop processes do not by themselves establish failure. CONSTRAINTS AND FIRST INVESTIGATION There are six days to prepare. Review eligibility and recent exceptions with managers; establish when dependable collection timing can be communicated. Then test customer expectations of the wording and booking page. Do not invent answers to unresolved facts. OUTPUT AND TEST PLAN Propose a campaign with audience rationale, draft wording, and a clear booking explanation. Keep any collection promise conditional on confirmed operational eligibility. Place exclusions beside the booking button and cap slots only after available capacity is confirmed. Suggest a small test against generic service copy. Track profitable completed jobs, cancellations, and reassigned repairs. State what each result would change. Label proposals and assumptions; do not claim proven performance.
Goal → audience hypothesis → known facts → unresolved assumptions → constraints → output and checks.
GOAL What useful business outcome should the work support? Mark estimates and unverified targets. AUDIENCE HYPOTHESIS Who might benefit, and why? Separate evidence from assumptions. KNOWN FACTS What can the business currently deliver? Include the service and customer journey. UNRESOLVED ASSUMPTIONS What might customers expect? When will the business know it can deliver? List the facts that still need checking. CONSTRAINTS Time, capacity, resources, exclusions, and promises the work must respect. OUTPUT AND CHECKS Specify the deliverable. Ask for a first investigation, a small test where appropriate, measures tied to the goal, and what findings would change the recommendation. Do not invent unresolved facts or claim untested performance.
OPTIONAL / ANOTHER WAY TO LOOK AT IT
See the strengths and limits of three first investigations. Prepared commentary; your reflection is not analyzed.
OPTIONAL PRACTICE · SAME FICTIONAL CASE
01 / THE BRIEF
6 days to prepareLoop wants more profitable Tuesday–Thursday repair work. Management estimates that mechanic capacity is available.
Routine adjustments and safety checks are usually same day. Faults or ordered parts may take longer.
Customers reserve a drop-off, not a collection time. They ask: “Will I be riding home?”
Two shops offer an optional pre-check. The third assesses the bike on arrival. Problems beyond the standard service can emerge at that point. Different processes do not, by themselves, mean the promise will fail.
SIMULATED AI RECOMMENDATION
↗ LOCAL COMMUTERSSame-day collection for eligible standard services.
Book Tuesday–Thursday.
Cap the slots. Run a small test against generic service copy. Track profitable completed jobs, cancellations, and repairs reassigned after booking. This is a suggested campaign, not an executed test.
02 / YOUR JUDGMENT
No single scored answerWhat assumption would you check before approving the campaign? Reflect if you like, then choose your first investigation.
03 / COMMENTARY
A reasoned view, not a scorePrepared commentary for your selected move. Your reflection is not analyzed or scored.
EXPLORE ANOTHER FIRST MOVE