want to say isn’t the same thing as knowing how you will say it. Talking points lie midway on the spectrum from improv to memorisation - have yours in mind but stay loose.
you talking to? Who’s paying? Who’s deciding? Who has an axe to grind? Who is the fount of shit ideas? Who is a two-faced bastard? Who do you want to be your best friend? Who do you need to be your best friend? You’re designing for people - and these people need to believe.
professional groups all have taboos and subjects that shouldn’t be broached. Projects have out of scope topics and RACI-ruled lanes. Sometimes it can be as “banal” as the asset you choose. Better know this beforehand. How? Show material to operational stakeholders early so you can identify and derisk a freighted detail that would drain focus.
really trying to accomplish, stated or unstated? You need to have your own priorities straight. and keep in mind that whether you’re generating ideas or trying to validate work, not all elements are of equal value. Be clear on relative importance.
obvious things are skipped. A clear statement of purpose and intent is critical. Are we going to review? Validate? Prioritise? Explore? Select? Evaluate? Say it clearly from the outset so you can repeat it as necessary.
especially when handling large numbers of stakeholders. Don’t neglect to update everyone in attendance, and to inform them of any recent changes in planning.
important to remind stakeholders of anything that has been previously validated: this can be strategic convictions or structural choices, but it can also be research results. Always repeat what has been decided, and what you know. If there is already a high level of consensus, this will set the anchor more firmly. If there is lingering dissent - which there often is - it will not preempt further discussion, but will at least establish a defensible position.
of personal style - this is a control technique. There are many ways to inject humour into your discourse. It can be subtle, with puns or swift asides, or overt, with dramatised contrasts or jaw-dropping stories. Whether or not you think you’re funny, you need to listen for and anticipate - though not necessarily plan - moments where you can lighten the mood. Levity is the surest, and least risky, path to engagement.
that classic interview question: “Tell me about the last time that…” Well, that works in presentations too. Anecdotes can come from a variety of sources - your personal experiences, previous jobs, second- hand accounts. Wherever they come from, short stories serve as a shorthand for experience, and are extremely effective way to preserve focus on your message. A great technique in planning your presentation is how you will shuttle between abstract and concrete. Discuss an idea, a principle, a goal, and then whip out your concrete example of how it works in action to hammer home the point.
pieces of conventional wisdom. They can be quotes from the industry, or beyond. Here we’re talking about “quantitative shows what, qualitative shows why” or “Content over chrome”, but also “The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good” or, my personal military favourites, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” (Patton), “No plan survives contact with the enemy” (Sun Tzu? Napoleon? Clausewitz?” or its more contemporary variant, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” (Tyson)
people, or facilitating activities, you do so from a point of central focus. You may not have a stage, but you are on stage, so act like it. Use your environment. Pace, gesture, pause, gesticulate. Being active and occupying more area than you need to stand in helps draw the eye, but also keeps you from the hands-wringing-podium trap. Move. Breathe. It makes things easier.
tact. When done correctly, it’s very useful for providing rhythm and dynamism. Positive speech creates complicity, reinforces charisma and boosts rapport - people like to hear when they’re “right”. Negative tones, used wisely, can boost authority, and reassure the client that you have strong convictions. This exercise also enables you to open space. If you go too far, you can pull back and say, “Maybe I’m going to far, but…” But the ideas is already seeded. Be wary - rail against ideas, never against people.
You know that, because you’re also an Information Architect. Get clients to say what they mean, to define words with deep potential, in real time. Casual remarks, especially those containing value-judgment descriptors like “easy” or “hard”, hide deeper assumptions. Ask individuals “What do you mean by that”. Ask groups “What do you call this…” Clarifying qualities and components this way creates trust and avoids costly confusion down the road.
do you manage clients questions or remarks that you simply don’t understand? Don’t say “I don’t understand”. Recognise what you can, then rephrase and repeat. Use closed questions to confirm specific points. Above all else, don’t let leave an exchange without being sure of what the client meant.
Keep things clear While sometimes you have to clarify what the client said to you, you will often have to verify that the client has understood what you said. While the need is different, the tactic is the same: rephrase, repeat. Summarise what you may have spent a long time explaining in the briefest way you can. You may not need to include your rationale, just the actions: “So we’re going to…” This is especially important in cases of validation.
is everyone’s job. While as problem solvers we welcome additional research opportunities, fresh design challenges and new problem spaces, good will and good business aren’t always the same thing. Identifying problematics that are out of scope, classifying them as such, and inviting the client to review how to treat them in future will avoid potentially expensive ad-hoc engagements and, moreover, remind the client that certain things are “not so simple” to treat effectively.
much about creating a safe and positive space as it is demonstrating competence and expertise. “Yes” is perhaps the second most beautiful word to any person after their own name. It shows accord, legitimates their remarks, and lets you move forward. Use liberally.
exists only to satisfy the internal politics of the site owner must be eliminated.” This is an excellent operational injunction, and I invite you to establish it at the beginning of your project. Good luck with that. Whether or not you do, the reality is that even if you don’t do what the Highest Paid Person in the Organisation (HiPPO) wants, you damn well need to show them you’re listening. Find out what they are after, beyond just business effectiveness. It may be a pet feature, a certain brand resonance, one KPI to rule them all, or it may simply be to talk or to choose. Figure it out, and then manage it.
boss happy isn’t enough. and can be a risk unto itself. Share the love. Every stakeholder needs to feel listened to, respected, and well-served, and indeed should. While you can’t say yes to everything, be mindful of identifying what is near and dear to each stakeholder, and strive to either give them part of what they want or, failing that, demonstrate that their opinion has been heard.
be a design error, a recommendation that goes against proven best practice, or simply something that didn’t pan out in tests. Designs can fail and you can be wrong. Of course, this situation is best avoided, but when it does arrive - and it will if you work long enough - you must be an adult, admit your error, and move on. Humility and recognising your own fallibility can remedy mistakes by demonstrating honesty. Just try not to fuck up too much.
Shit Done Getting clients to prioritise anything is an endless battle. But some battles aren’t worth fighting. Be on the lookout for distracting arguments or requests that will overcomplicate the product unnecessarily. This is especially common in international projects with lots of desire for local control. Reframe distractions as less important than other problems, and try to pass over them.
need a fall guy. If you are anticipating conflict or debate around a particular design choice, or if you are presenting multiple options, don’t hesitate to include one that will draw fire for its obvious faults. You can either point them out yourself, or wait for the client to, but it will provide a sufficient illusion of choice to - hopefully - let the better option rise to the top. Use with parsimony.
to expertise are rarely effective. If you have a design decision the client isn’t accepting, talk it through with them. Get them to articulate their point of view, identify the advantages and disadvantages of their approach, and ladder up to their personal stakeholder assumptions. Use the five whys. Either they’ll convince you, our they’ll talk themselves into your position.
worth a thousand pages of spec, and a picture is still worth a thousand words. Always be prepared to pick up the marker and start sketching options and alternatives, either to support talking it through or when argumentation has been unsuccessful. Nothing engages attention and enables discussion better than throwing up some alternatives. Bonus points if you have another designer who can modify digital assets live on screen.
is never an argument. Balance, whitespace, rhythm, gestalt - all of these are worth fuckall if you cannot tie them to results. Appealing to business effectiveness is among your strongest cards, if you can justify it. Analytics and quantitative best practice reports can help you here. But softer arguments can work too: brand equity and plunging NPS are the boogeymen of short-sighted marketers.
have strong convictions, we may need the client to decide. They know their business better than you do, and be damned if you forget that. Don’t hesitate to go roundtable or straw-poll to help create alignment.
constantly asking for shitty ideas to be implemented, you need to make it very clear that you think they’re doing wrong. “Being a dick” doesn’t really mean being a jerk - it means forcefully defending your position against client dissent. It lets you show charisma and diplomacy, but also to assert expertise. More than anything it can denote a client- agency break and clearly place design debt in their corner. Ask whoever is taking notes to put the decision in the meeting minutes, and remind the client “I’m not here to be your friend or to agree with you. I’m here to help you achieve your goals.”
of “Is this the hill you want to die on”. As part of “Knowing your agenda”, you should know where you’re willing to give. This is not the distraction of “Hairy Arms” - this is giving a little where it matters little.
a mature approach to testing and user feedback, this is your joker. Postponing a decision can be unhealthy if you don’t have a mechanism for treating it later. Saying “Let’s test” let’s you postpone while not only defining an endgame, but also demonstrating a willingness to be proven wrong. Of course, hope you’re right! Remember this phrase: Strong opinions, weakly held. And also remember that humility is one of the good designers greatest qualities.
On Target Another interview technique you can rely upon. People will bring up relevant topics that are either in your agenda, but later, or that are not at all in your agenda but are worth addressing. Whatever the case, recognise that the issue raised is worth discussing, but later, and then be sure to get back to it at an appropriate time.
On Target The level of involvement of the people in the room will vary according to formats, with workshops requiring near-constant input and presentations more staggered feedback periods. When the time is right, you need to provide proper signals and actively solicit feedback - just saying “Any questions?” won’t cut it. Go around the table asking individuals, “Does this work for you?”, or go the board and get your Sharpie ready. Make it clear the ball is in their court. Don’t hesitate to ask directly for what you want. “Ok so can we validate X, Y, Z…”
politely when it is lost, especially when people are talking among themselves, is an absolute necessity that requires tact. Maybe they’re discussing something worthwhile, maybe not. Setting ground rules is the best approach - say at the outset “We’re going to have one conversation at a time,” and having them agree, gives you the space to call order back. When that fails, the old schoolmarm trick of inviting them to share what they’re talking about works great. If their topic is relevant to the group, it will be good to evacuate it. If not, they’ll typically quiet down. Remember, however, that you reserve the right to scold recidivists.
times when everything goes off the rails: either no one is paying attention, or there’s tons of small side discussions, or the general discussion has deviated completely from the agenda and you need to regain control. Be forceful but graceful. Get their attention either with a noisemaking device or with a tactic like “If you can hear my voice clap once…” Remind them that time is precious, and tell them again where you are in the agenda and what you’re currently trying to accomplish. They’re paying you so they should behave.
fresh approach immediately. People may not be participating and need to be shaken up. An unanticipated subject arises that is best treated now rather than later. The whole purpose of the meeting may be obviated by new info, or the revelation of a profound lack of information. Don’t worry, you got this. It’s simply time to dance. If you have to rework or reinvent the schedule “live”, that’s fine. Just as with the introduction, own the transition, explain why it’s good to change subjects, and describe how the initial meeting points will be treated later.
Listen appropriately, but run as tight a ship as necessary. Remember that constraints are more like guardrails that let you move forward at faster speeds.
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