Articulating Design Decisions, 2nd Edition

Chapter 1. Great Designers Are Great Communicators

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Great Designers Are Great Communicators

Have you ever had to make changes to your design work you disagreed with? Me too! It’s not easy to talk about design, especially with people who aren’t designers. The ability to effectively articulate design decisions is critical to the success of a project, because the most articulate person usually wins. In fact, I would say that the difference between a good designer and a great designer is in their ability to not only solve problems with design, but to also articulate how their solution solves it in a way that’s compelling, fosters agreement, and gets the support needed to move forward. That’s what this book is about: getting support for your design decisions.

Lots of people are involved in the design process. What was once relegated to a visual aesthetic is now the center of everyone’s attention. People from all over the organization see the value of creating a great user experience, and they all want to participate. Marketing, executives, developers, product management, even people in accounting will want to tell you how they think it should work. People are excited about user experience (UX) because they recognize the long-term effect it has on the product, the business, and the bottom line. The good news? You’re a very popular person!

The Big Meeting

One Sunday in January, I had to catch a late flight to San Francisco for a client meeting the next morning. But this wasn’t ...