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

by Tom Greever

The answer to a design problem was to educate the user. If we can help users understand the system, then they will know how to use it.

In life, there are no adults, only more experienced children.

The key to being articulate is to understand both the message you want to communicate and the response you want in return.

(solving a problem and making it easy for users)

The difference between a good designer and a great designer is the ability to not only solve the problem, but also to articulate how the design solves it in a way that is compelling and fosters agreement.

solves a problem It’s easy for users It’s supported by everyone

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.

usability is about two things: common sense and research.

You need to create an environment where everyone understands what you’re doing so that you can move on to the next thing.

be consciously aware of why your design decisions are better than the alternatives.

What problem does it solve?

How does it affect the user? Why is it better than the alternative?

Your ability to be thoughtful about a problem and articulate any solution is more important than your ability to design the perfect solution every time.

by describing and expressing your designs to other people in way that makes sense to them.

The reality is, we don’t really care about what our stakeholders like or don’t like (although we could never tell them that). With a user-centered design approach, we’re concerned with what does and doesn’t work for the user and ultimately for the business.

such as letting them talk as much as they need to, trying to hear what isn’t being said, and working to uncover the real problem they’re addressing. After that, pause for a few seconds to be sure they’ve finished talking. But there are also several explicit skills we can apply to be better listeners of design feedback. We take good notes by writing down what was decided. We ask questions to clarify and tune our understanding. And we repeat and rephrase what stakeholders say to help establish a shared vocabulary and common ground. All of these things help us be better listeners, understand what is being communicated, and allow us to form the best response. You might think it’s time to tell them what you think now, but it’s not. First, we need to get in the right frame of mind.

The whole purpose of user experience design is to create something that’s useful—in fact, delightful—for the widest possible audience.

Our meetings with stakeholders are also improvisations. If

We have to help our stakeholders understand our decisions by answering the question How does this affect the user?

When we talk about them to stakeholders, we need

real stories, concrete examples, and demonstrable experiences to use in our defense.

Instead of focusing on the mechanics of the system, we create a human connection that demonstrates a real need being met.

and they need a way to indicate that they’ve finished filtering.

The Done button allows them to make that clear and gives them a sense of control

over the f...

Why is this better than the alternative?

Show a comparison Propose an alternative Give them a choice Ask others to weigh in Postpone the decision

This is why we have jobs: because it’s really difficult to find the right solutions.

In each case, we are emphasizing the trade-off.

Our strategy for accomplishing that is to communicate that our design solves a problem, makes it easy for users, and is better than the alternatives.

Stick around to chat with people. • Follow up quickly with your notes. • Apply filters and remove the fluff. • Seek out individuals who can help you. • Make decisions when there is ambiguity.

you must help them understand how it will be done, what your thought process and approach will be, and when they can expect it to be finished.

Realize we are good at our jobs. • Prioritize our needs so that we can get to work. • Authorize the entire team to move quickly. • Recognize that we are people, too.

have a seat at the table when it comes to decision making.

defining use cases, mapping flows, writing requirements and a ton of ideation and iteration on wireframes and prototypes.