diff --git a/documentation/brief-yoctoprojectqs/brief-yoctoprojectqs.xml b/documentation/brief-yoctoprojectqs/brief-yoctoprojectqs.xml
index 1fae145bbc..26eb3c7aa7 100644
--- a/documentation/brief-yoctoprojectqs/brief-yoctoprojectqs.xml
+++ b/documentation/brief-yoctoprojectqs/brief-yoctoprojectqs.xml
@@ -285,8 +285,15 @@
         <para>
             A hardware layer provides the metadata to support specific
             hardware.
-            By convention, hardware layers (i.e. Board Support Packages)
-            start with the string "meta-".
+            In general, layers are repositories that contain related sets
+            of instructions and configurations that tell the OpenEmbedded
+            build system what to do.
+            Isolating related metadata into layers facilitates modular
+            development.
+            <note>
+                By convention, hardware layers (i.e. Board Support Packages)
+                start with the string "meta-".
+            </note>
         </para>
 
         <para>