HolaBrief offers interactive tools for agencies who want to supercharge their client discovery process. It streamlines briefing, discovery and strategy in one place, so you can deliver standout creative work in less time.
Featuring interactive exercises and strategy-based templates, HolaBrief makes it easy (and fun!) to get everyone on the same page.
Check out the following video to get an idea of the tool.
Who is HolaBrief for?
HolaBrief was built for agencies that want to improve their discovery process with their clients. However, thanks to the flexibility and level of customisation HolaBrief offers, it can be used for any company that needs to work on any creative project.
Apart from agencies in the fields of Advertising, Design, Marketing, Content Creation and so on, some of our clients are brands working on different industries such as Education, Ecommerce Platforms as well as Freelance Designers and Brand Strategists.
Create an HolaBrief account
If you’ve received an invitation via email to join HolaBrief, click the link in the email to create your account.
Otherwise, go to holabrief.com/signup to start using HolaBrief. You can sign up with your Google account or use your email and create a password.
Do I need an account to use HolaBrief?
If you want to create a new project or collaborate on a project you are invited to, you will need to create your own account.
If you receive a public link to a project from an HolaBrief user, you will be able to see it without a HolaBrief account.
Do I have to pay to use HolaBrief?
No. HolaBrief is free and unlimited!
With an HolaBrief account you can collaborate in projects you are invited to and you will also be able to create unlimited project of your own. Share it with public links and invite as many guests as you need.
Currently HolaBrief is only available in English. However you can edit the exercises so you can translate into your desired language and save them as templates o you can re use multiple times.
Exercises
What's an exercise?
Exercises are the key component of your project, designed to help you get clarity about a specific aspect of your project.
Exercises can be text based, interactive, they can include images, selectors and so on. You can use repeatedly in your projects and assign them to team members.
Can I edit existing exercises?
Yes, you can edit existing exercise templates to match your needs and language or to adapt the exercises to a specific project. In order to edit an exercise, click on the Edit mode icon on the exercise header:
Once you are on Edit mode you will be able to add new components or remove existing ones. Changes will be saved automatically.
You can always save the exercise as a templateto re-use it in other projects.
Can I create my own exercises templates?
Yes, you can create exercises from scratch and save them as your own templates to make them available to use by other team members in your account. From the sidebar go to Add and choose Exercise from scratch.
You will go directly to the new exercise where you can rename it and start adding components.
Once you finish creating the exercise, you can save it as an exercise template.
How do I save an exercise template?
You can save exercises as templates from the bookmark icon in the exercise header.
After clicking on the bookmark icon, enter a name for the exercise and click Save.
Once you do so, the bookmark icon will change indicating that this exercise is saved as a template:
If you make changes on the structure of the exercise you will be able to update the current template or create a new one. Just click on the bookmark icon to access to this options:
Where can I see all my exercise templates?
Your exercise templates are available to editors and admin in your team under Templates > Exercise Templates.
How can I assign an exercise to another team member?
If you want to assign an exercise to a team member, first make sure you invite your team members to your project. Once your team member is on your project you can assign them exercises from the exercise header. The assigned member will receive a notification via email.
How to organise exercises using sections
If your projects have multiple exercises you might want to organise them and break them into sections that reflects the different stages of your project. By default, our project templates come with sections. You can rename these sectione, add new ones and drag and drop the exercises to customise the sidebar to fit your needs.
Once you finish setting up your sidebar we recommend you save the project as a template so you can re use it later.
What elements can I use to create custom exercises?
When you create a custom exercise or edit an existing exercise you will find a set of elements you can add in order to tailor the exercise to your needs. These are the elements you can add: Text area: perfect for asking questions. Text areas allow you to apply format to your text such as links, bold, italic, etc... learn more here. Quote: you can use this element to capture a quote or statement. Bulleted list: allows you to create a simple bulleted list. Numbered list: create a list with numbering. Slider: add a slider that includes a progressive numbering from 0 to 100. Priority slider: this slider includes 3 customisable levels (left, center or right). Tags: ideal for creating lists that don’t have any specific order or priority. File upload: give the option to upload multiple files with this element. Toggle switch: the classic on/off switch. Binary options: choose between 3 options: left, center or right. Single choice: respondents can select only one option. Multiple choice: respondents can select more than one option Image cards: visual cards that allow single or multiple selection. Includes an image and optional title and description.
How to copy an exercise to another project?
When working on a project, you can save time and speed up your process by copying exercises from one project to another. 1. Click on the options button located next to the exercise name and select Copy to.
2. Select the project you want to copy the exercise to. Make sure you don't copy information that could be confidential.
3. After the exercise is copied you will see a notification including a link to the project.
What happens when you copy an exercise to another project: - The exercise status will be copied to the new exercise - The new exercise will be assigned to the user that made the copy - All the content will be copied - Comments will not be copied
How can I share an exercise?
Once you finish an exercise you need to mark it as ready for review before you can share it. This will allow you to share the exercise from the exercise header.
Alternatively you can download the exercise as a PDF.
How can I add format to my answers?
You can add format and additional elements to your answers (currently available on text areas). This is what you can do:
Adding format to your text: Select the text on your text area to see the options available: Bold: choose this option to make your text in bold. Italic: thisallows you to make your text in italic. Link: you can add links to the selected text. Just enter the link and press Enter. Marker: choose this option to highlight a text. Convert to list: this will turn your text into a list. Once your text is converted into a list you can choose between bulleted list or numbered list by selecting the text and clicking on the right icon to select the desired option.
In addition you can add a list by clicking on the + icon that appears when you click on a text area.
Adding an image in a text area: You can also add images by clicking on the + icon that appears when you click on a text area and then clicking on the image icon. Alternatively you can copy/paste an image in a text area.
Embedding videos in a text area: If you want to embed a video simple copy/paste the video url and a video player will be embed.
Projects
What's a project?
In HolaBrief, work is organised in projects that include a series of exercises such as Personas, Positioning Maps, etc. You can invite team members to your projects and, for your peace of mind, assign them different roles with access to a different set of permissions.
Can I limit the projects my guests and editors see?
Yes, if you are an Admin you can manage permissions for your Editors and Guests on a project per project base.
There are 2 ways to do this:
1. Manage team members from the project dashboard On your project dashboard you can see who is invited to the project. From here you can remove team members from this project and invite new ones.
2. Manage team members from the Team section From the Team section you can see a list of team members in your account (you will see one area for Editors and one area for Guests).
If you click on one of your team members you will see their profile page with the list of projects they are invited to. In addition, from this screen you will be able to invite this user to new projects and delete the user entirely from your account.
What are project templates?
We created project templates for common initiatives, such as rebranding projects, web creation projects, app creation projects… Each of these has a collection of exercises that are appropriate for the goal or the type of work.
How do I create a project template?
In your projects list, click on the options icon in the project you want to reuse and click Save as Template. Then enter a project name and confirm to save the project to your template library.
Once you save a project as a template, when you create a new project you can select your project template from your template list.
Where can I see all my project templates?
Your project templates are available to all editors in your team under Templates > Project Templates.
Here you can also select a template to delete it or create a new project based on the selected template.
Workspaces
How do workspaces work?
With workspaces you can access your team's projects in one central place.
After creating your HolaBrief account your workspace will be created automatically. By default, your workspace name will be your user name but you can change it from your workspace settings, where you will also be able to add your own branding.
If you are invited to a project and you don't have a HolaBrief account yet, you will access to the workspace you were invited to and you will be able to create your own workspace in case you want to use HolaBrief for your own projects.
You can navigate between workspaces through the dropdown menu on the top right menu.
Note: You can be invited to multiple workspaces but currently you can only own one workspace. If you need to create additional workspaces you can create a new account with a different email address.
Invite team members to a workspace
To make the most out of HolaBrief and make sure everyone is on the same page we recommend you to invite your team and external collaborators to your workspace.
There are 2 ways to invite team members in HolaBrief: 1. From a project If you want to invite a member to a specific project you can go to the project dashboard and click on Add team member and enter the user email to invite them. The person you invited will receive an email notification to access the project and will only have access to this specific project. 2. From the team manager In case you want to invite a member to multiple projects at once, the best way to do it is from the team manager. Click on the Team section on the top menu, then click on Invite team members and finally choose if you want to invite an Editor or Guest. After you enter the email address of the person you want to invite you will be able to select the projects you want to invite them to. Click Invite to send the invitations.
Roles and permissions
When you invite a member to join your workspace you can choose the role you want to give them. Each role comes with a set of permissions for project access, templates management and workspace settings. HolaBrief has 4 types of users:
Admins: is the account owner and have full permissions to manage workspace settings, including deleting it. Managers: like Admin, Managers have full control of the workspace and they can see all projects, no matter if they are invited or not. The difference is that they can not delete the workspace created by the admin. Editors: they can access most of the settings on the workspace. They can create projects and manage templates. They can also invite members. Editors will only have access to projects they create or are invited to. Guests: this is a limited role ideal for clients or external collaborators. Guest users have access only to the projects they are invited to and they can only add information to a project or leave comments but they don't have access to create/delete projects, create/delete templates or any kind of workspace settings.
Manage team members
Once a team member is added to your workspace there are a few actions you can do:
Change team member role Go to the Team section and click on the team member you want to edit. Click on the dropdown menu where the role is displayed and select the new role you want to assign them.
When you go back the to Team section, the team member will be listed on the corresponding section.
See team member projects Go to the Team section and click on a team member. You will see the member page including the list of all the project this member is invited to.
Delete team member from a project Go to the project dashboard and click on the recycle bin icon to delete it. The member won't have access to this specific project anymore but he/she will still have access to the workspace and other projects he/she might be invited to.
Delete team member from a workspace Go to the Team section and click on a team member and then click on Delete member and confirm.
Workspace settings and custom branding
From the workspace settings you can edit your workspace name and add your own custom branding to the workspace. To access the workspace settings click on the workspace menu on the top right and click the settings icon next to your workspace name.
Note: depending on your role on that workspace you might not see the workspace settings icon. Admins, Managers and Editors have access to this section.
Changing the workspace name By default de workspace name is your user name, to change simple go to the Name tab, enter a new name and press Save. The new name will be applied and all members invited to your workspace will see the new name.
Adding custom branding to a workspace From the workspace settings you can replace HolaBrief branding with your own branding. When you go to the Branding section you will be able to upload your own logo and change the primary and secondary colors.
Primary color will be applied to buttons, links and graphs. Secondary color will be applied to illustrations and graphs. The custom branding will be shown on your workspace (to you and your team members), public links and pdf exports.
Reset custom branding If you want to remove the custom branding and go back to the HolaBrief branding, go to the Branding section on your workspace settings and click on Reset branding. Keep in mind that your custom branding will be removed from your workspace, links and future pdf exports. This action can not be undone.
