Name: Articulating Design Decisions
ISBN: 9781491921531

Tom Greever

Annotation Every designer has had to justify designs to non-designers, yet most lack the ability to explain themselves in a way that is compelling and fosters agreement. The ability to effectively articulate design decisions is critical to the success of a project, because the most articulate person often wins. This practical book provides principles, tactics and actionable methods for talking about designs with executives, managers, developers, marketers and other stakeholders who have influence over the project with the goal of winning them over and creating the best user experience.

Communicate with Stakeholders, Keep Your Sanity, and Deliver the Best User Experience

Articulating Design Decisions

PG Gonni

So, I would say there are three things that every design needs to be successful: 

Because our end goal is to tell other people about it, why not attempt to describe every detail in sentence form and assume that the reader doesn't have the ability to see it? How would you describe your designs to someone on the phone? Or by email? Writing down how you see your work will reveal many of your motivations, some of which you never realized were there.

This is where common sense comes to play. There really is no reason to overthink it. Create the easiest solution you can think of. Do what makes sense and move on.

That's what getting support is all about: convincing people to trust us with the solution. You need to create an environment where everyone understands what you're doing, believes in your expertise, and supports your choices, so that you can move on to the next thing.

The single most important thing you can do to improve communication between you and your stakeholders is to improve those relationships, earn trust, and establish a rapport that will speak more for you than the words that come out of your mouth in a meeting.

[Developers] tend to be more analytical, so they don't even "see" some of the UI details you've designed. They may even be concerned with "overdesigning" something that they think is not worth the extra effort. Your job is to help them see the value in everything you've done so that they're excited about the end result, while also demonstrating that you understand the effort involved.

Yet, the more we can show them that we're people, too, the more value and stock they'll put into our ideas, suggestions, and proposals. We're not robots churning out stuff just to get a paycheck; we're smart people with great ideas working together to create great products

Friedrich Schuler

(...) When we disagree, we tend to become defensive. When we become defensive, we fail to focus on the real issues. The meeting ends, not with collaboration (...)

The thing we came together to accomplish has been muddied by groupthink and mob mentality. Remember, teamwork always ends with work.

(...) Your team has poured in all the best practices. You've done usability testing to prove it works. And yet, one executive can come in and blow up the whole thing.

Everyone wants their business unit represented on the home page. It's as if something doesn't exist if it isn't on the home page.

(...) Designers lacking the ability to explain why they did what they did end up on the losing side of the argument, forced to make changes they disagree with simply because they were unable to fend them off.

(...) Alternately, being articulate about our designs:

You're smart, you know what you're talking about, you have expertise in this area, and you can be trusted with the solution.

You've thought about it, pursued it, and are logical in your approach. This isn't just a random idea; there is purpose and focus.

You know what you want and how to get it done. Having a solid argument shows that you're not wishy-washy and you mean what you say.

You value everyone's opinions and time enough that you're well prepared. You're not wasting time or disregarding others.

(...) So, I would say there are three things that every design needs to be successful:

(...) Find out what the most important factors are for your stakeholders-impressions, conversion, account sign-ups-and then pick one or two measurable issues that you'd like to improve and write them down. Set this as your goal and use it to your advantage when talking to other people.

(...) we're not always in tune with our own thought process to help other people understand why we did what we did. This is where our intuition becomes so vital, and this is what makes us good designers: we know how to solve problems with design. It's often natural for us

(...) When you're working on a design, you need to make yourself consciously aware of every decision you're making and why. You need to be constantly asking yourself, 

"What problem am I trying to solve with this?"

(...) How would you describe your designs to someone on the phone? Or by email? Writing down how you see your work will reveal many of your motivations, some of which you never realized were there. The purpose of this exercise is to help you uncover your thought process and articulate your decisions first to yourself. It's not intended to be a substitute for demonstrating your designs visually.

(...) It's okay to make decisions based on another app, but it doesn't always make the best case. What it will do, however, is allow you to go through a new series of questions to get to the bottom of your thinking: Why does SocialApp do it this way? Is our context similar enough? Does SocialApp have any data? Were they intentional about this choice? Every time you're able to describe your designs, you'll uncover a part of your thought process that can help you find the best ways to talk about it.

(...) One way that I capture how my designs affect users is to write a story that is either based on a user session I observed or loosely based on the overall use case.

(...) We've observed users hesitate when deciding which button they should choose because the buttons are so similar.

Because Sign Up is the most common case in this context, l've made that button the full width of the container and changed the Login button to a text link.

This should make it easier for new users to sign up while still facilitating easy login for existing users. Most existing users will go directly to their account page by being automatically logged in.

This should reduce confusion and increase conversion.

(...) What happens if you don't get support? You'll constantly rehash the same conversations over and over again. When people don't remember why you did what you did (because your explanation wasn't compelling or memorable)

(...) Everything we design has another way of doing it. (...) we often know what our clients are going to suggest. If you've worked with your stakeholders before, you can make a pretty good guess about how they'll react (...) be consciously aware of why your design decisions are better than the alternatives. (...) write down your answers. Make a list of the other ways that you could solve this problem. Create a bunch of alternative designs, don't throw them away, and have them available if you need them. With those alternatives, make a short list of why you think they don't solve the problem as well as your proposed design. Thinking critically about these other options will help you to be prepared to discuss your decisions with other people.

Sometimes, I create very simple wireframes of the alternatives in addition to my recommendation. When the client begins asking questions about my proposed solution, I can quickly show these to visually demonstrate the differences.

If we're going to be successful at communicating with people about our designs, we must be able to answer these three questions about our work:

The purpose of answering these questions is more of an exercise in getting you to understand your choices than it is a prescriptive method for documenting them. Don't worry too much about the details of how you write them down. (...) These answers will form the basis of your response to every stakeholder concern about your designs.

(...) When other people realize that you've put thought into it and are being intentional, they're more willing to trust you, even if they disagree.

(...) We need to see the world through the eyes of the people who have influence over our project. We have to get in their heads, find out what makes them tick, and use this information to help us approach them in a way that's productive and valuable for everyone.

(...) In order to do that, we need to: (...)

Get to know their viewpoint so intimately that we're driven to action.

Understand how their interests outside of the office affect their perspective.

(...) Ultimately, our job is to learn how to make our stakeholders successful, because if we can help them be successful, that will help us be successful as a byproduct.

The trouble with people is that we're all so unpredictable and yet so incredibly predictable at the same time. Often the people in your meetings are dealing with things, in both their personal and professional lives, which are more important to them than your current design project.

(...) Stakeholder reactions to our design work often have an underlying situational explanation that we might never know about. I always prefer to believe the best about people, rather than assume the worst about their intentions.

Our inability to see the perspective of another person often results from a lack of shared experiences. We simply don't have enough in common with them.

(...) create shared experiences with other people on a professional level. It can be something as simple as going to lunch together or grabbing a drink after work.

It doesn't matter what you talk about: work, life, or the show you watched last night. The point is that you're removing yourself, your ego, and the pressure of the minute-to-minute business of work.

I once worked with an executive who was a visionary thinker, but we were building a simple minimum viable product (MVP) for the first release. At the first couple of meetings, he was underwhelmed by our basic functionality. He knew the constraints of the project, but we needed him to be on board to get his support. (...)

As an executive, he always had a high-level, 30,000-foot view of everything going on, yet we were showing him a minute detail that might only be a small blip on the radar of this product. (...)

So, from that point on, I chose to bring two different mockups to each meeting. One was this baseline MVP, which was modest and simple. (...)

Actually, I've found that it's often a best practice when working with executives to show both what's possible in the short term and what's preferred for the future. This approach creates a buzz that keeps everyone excited and makes it more likely that they'll support you.

(...) If we want to see our stakeholders as human, to create shared experiences, and to develop empathy for their situation, the best thing we can do is to just ask.

Very helpful tips and can be applied to subjects outside of design. 

Erika

Very well structured advise on how to communicate better and position yourself. Will probably revisit this book from time to time.

Fantastic, and an absolute must-read for anyone working in product

Anddy G

Cada que tengo un momento de indecisión, de sindrome del impostor de como hablar de diseño con cualquier área de negocio, el periquito verde es mi safe spot para recordarme todo lo que debo (y no debo) hacer.

Es mi biblia de comunicación de diseño.

Hill

Michelle Warner

Ava Liao

Marie

Guven Sozmen

Ilyas Gaifullin

Sally

Sabine Ballata

Talking to people about your designs might seem like a basic skill, but it can be difficult to do efficiently and well. And, in many cases, how you communicate about your work with stakeholders, clients, and other non-designers is more critical than the designs themselves—simply because the most articulate person usually wins. This practical guide focuses on principles, tactics, and actionable methods for presenting your designs. Whether you design UX, websites, or products, you’ll learn how to win over anyone who has influence over the project—with the goal of creating the best experience for the end user. Walk through the process of preparing for and presenting your designs Understand stakeholder perspectives, and learn how to empathize with them Cultivate both implicit and explicit listening skills Learn tactics and formulas for expressing the most effective response to feedback Discover why the way you follow through is just as crucial as the meeting itself Educate your stakeholders by sharing the chapter from this book on how to work with designers

Articulating Design Decisions Communicate with Stakeholders, Keep Your Sanity, and Deliver the Best User Experience

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