How to influence stakeholders on design decisions
How to influence stakeholders on design decisions
A 5-step guide to effectively communicate your product decisions to stakeholders and win their buy-in for execution.
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Q: How can I effectively communicate design decisions to stakeholders?
As designers and PMs, we know that communicating our decisions to stakeholders can be a challenging task. It requires not only excellent design skills but also effective communication and collaboration with others across the organization.
My 3 big takeaways from this research:
Start with user research can help you explain why you made certain product choices to stakeholders.
Using visual aids can help stakeholders understand how the product will work.
Being open to feedback and following up with action items can help ensure that decisions are executed effectively.
Below, we'll dive into some best practices for communicating product & design decisions effectively:
1. Start with customer voice
Before presenting your design decisions to stakeholders, it's important to start with user research to ensure that your design decisions are grounded in user needs and preferences.
📌 How you can do this:
Conduct user research to understand how your target audience uses your product and what pain points they experience.
Use your research to inform your design decisions and explain why you made certain choices to stakeholders.
User research can also help you identify potential objections from stakeholders, allowing you to proactively address them in your presentation.
2. Show visual, don’t tell
Using visual aids is a powerful way to communicate your design decisions to stakeholders. By presenting your designs visually, you can help stakeholders understand how your product will work and how users will interact with it. Here are some tips for using visual aids to communicate with stakeholders:
📌 How you can do this:
Use wireframes or prototypes to help stakeholders visualize what the final product will look like.
Use diagrams or flowcharts to illustrate how users will navigate through your product.
3. Align your decision to goals
When presenting your design decisions to stakeholders, it's important to explain the reasoning behind your choices. By doing so, you can help stakeholders understand how your design decisions align with user needs and business goals. Here are some tips for explaining your reasoning to stakeholders:
📌 How you can do this:
Explain how your design decisions address specific user pain points or preferences.
Explain how your design decisions align with your company's business goals.
What this decision can potentially impact (and your hypothesis).
4. Be open to feedback
When presenting your design decisions to stakeholders, it's important to be open to feedback and to work collaboratively to find solutions that address concerns while still meeting user needs and business goals. Here are some tips for receiving feedback from stakeholders:
📌 How you can do this:
Listen to stakeholder concerns and perspectives without becoming defensive or dismissive.
Work together with stakeholders to find solutions that address concerns while still meeting user needs and business goals.
Finally, know that it is OK not to have all the answers.
5. Follow up with action items
After presenting your design decisions to stakeholders, it's important to follow up with action items to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that your design decisions are implemented effectively. Here are some tips for following up with stakeholders:
📌 How you can do this:
Create a summary of the decisions made during the meeting, along with a timeline for implementation.
Assign tasks to specific team members to ensure that everyone knows what they need to do to execute the design decisions effectively.
Follow up fast and timely while the context is strong within the days.
In conclusion, effective communication is key to ensuring that your design decisions are understood and implemented correctly by stakeholders.
Have a fulfilling and productive week 🙏!
P.S. I’ve got a bunch of newsletter valuable for you coming up, but I’d love to hear from you. What else should I cover? What companies do you want us to study and share processes, frameworks, etc? Please write your comment 👇.
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Felix from ADPList
What other methods do you find effective at your workplace to convince stakeholders? Leave your comment 👇
Thank you for the helpful post!