How to bell the cat?
A designer’s guide to talking about your designs and convincing stakeholders.
“They just don’t understand design! They want me to work on this stupid option. I know this wouldn’t work.”
Sounds familiar?
I often come across designers who seem to be producing great designs but when it comes to clients’ or other stakeholders’ acceptance, they fail miserably. This leads the designers to a sense of frustration about people not understanding their work, leave alone appreciating it. I have observed this happening across design disciplines from designing a house to designing a logo. Many a times it tends to further the divide between the designers and ‘the rest’ pushing the designers further into a silo, making them feel more, for the lack of a better word, elitist — ‘the world isn’t competent enough to understand my work’. Now this, I feel, is a big issue and is more common than is apparent.
Although I agree that people often fail to understand designs, in my opinion, many a times it’s simply us designers who fail to help them understand it. Let’s talk about a few points that may help:
Start Talking!
Often, I see designers not speaking much about their design and the process or the decisions that led to it. So while we are passionate about the designs that we create, we don’t necessarily communicate it with similar passion. Remember that the ‘perceived value’ of a design may not always reflect its true value. We must talk about it in detail — the whats and the whys, else it will end up becoming a piece of art that is open to interpretation.
Remember that the ‘perceived value’ of a design may not always reflect its true value.
Let me tell you a story
Nothing can beat a great narration. As designers, we all must learn the art of narration and expressive storytelling. We must be able to transport our audience into the world of the product that we have just designed.
A li’l bit of maths does everyone good
It’s important how we present our thoughts to our audience. I like to think of it as a mathematical derivation. Your design is a solution to something and all you have to do is to prove that it is the right solution (remember the ‘hence proved’?) Think about how to relate ‘the given’ (requirements, brief, etc) and ‘the approach’ (process, analysis, methodology) to the solution. Your solution should come across as a no-brainer.
Your design is a solution to something and all you have to do is to prove that it is the right solution.
Know what you don’t know
Usually presentations, especially in consulting, focus on the positive aspects of the design. While that is important, what’s even more important is for us to know where our design sucks (there is nothing called a perfect design). Opening it up to a few people before presentation will help us either address issues or atleast know what to say when asked about them.
Pro Tip: an even smarter way is to turn the tables by asking your stakeholders the same questions that you don’t know the answers to!
But what if I don’t know something?
Many a times designers fear being questioned on their designs. We should think of these questions as being asked out of curiosity for our work rather than wanting to ‘question’ our work. It’s completely ok to not know things and to not have an instant answer. Don’t panic and simply communicate that you would have to look into it. Doing so does not reflect poorly on you. Rather, it exhibits maturity, a sense of control and confidence in your work.
Can it be made?
I wouldn’t be wrong in saying that designers are infamous for being just dreamers. While dreams are important, and I know designers won’t like me saying this, it is also important to know how those dreams will be realized….not entirely, but at least a basic understanding. Not only will it help us with our designs but also the stakeholders to gauge the efforts required. It also provides more credibility to our words.
Don’t act like a parent
Our designs are our babies but we must learn to not treat them like that. Know that there’s no absolute right or wrong. You mustn’t go on the defensive everytime someone says something about it. Your bias may lead to frustration, which is often visible. It will also hamper your thought process, which in turn will impact your defense. So why do it at all?
I think we should…
Discussions on design often tend to be driven by subjective thinking, with people judging it on the basis of ‘how they think’ it should behave (everyone’s a designer you know). It is important for us to be able to control this. Having relevant data to support the decisions would help but its often unavailable. Thus, it is important to list down assumptions and clearly spell out the the vision and the goals which the design addresses (a vision document). It helps set a common stage for everyone to discuss. Keep referring back to it.
Who are you designing for?
I’m sure many would say, ‘the users…duh!’ Although that is true, we mustn’t forget that we are also designing for the stakeholders or ‘the business’. And make no mistake, they are even more important as at the end, they will provide us the money and the approvals (duh)! It is as imperative to understand them as it is to understand our users. Their inability to understand or appreciate our design should be a design problem for us.
There’s no point designing a user’s utopia that will never see the light of the day (failing stakeholder approval).
We’re in this together
Being close to the top of the project line doesn’t necessarily make us ‘above’ others. In fact, as a designer, one of our most important jobs is to keep different teams and stakeholders together. Trust me, no one else would do it, and if not done right, it will impact our own designs. Everyone must be able to feel their contributions to the project. If they are all on the same page, hopefully there won’t be any more battles for us to fight.
Loosen up
Last but not least at all, don’t be stiff. Loosen up. Smile, laugh, crack a joke or two. Enjoy talking about your design. It always helps if you are able to maintain a semi-formal relationship and a light environment during your presentation.
These are just some ways which, like I said earlier, may also be very subjective. I would be happy to know if any of these have worked for you in the past or not. Any story that you have to add.
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