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Articulating Design Decisions
Online Workshop for Teams

3 sessions, 90 min each, groups of 10-15

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Talking to people about design might seem like a basic skill, but it can be difficult to do well. And, in many cases, how you communicate with other designers, stakeholders, clients, or executives is more critical than the designs themselves. Based on my book Articulating Design Decisions, these online classes focus on principles, tactics, and actionable methods for helping you present design to other people.

  • Each class is about 90 minutes and is attended live online with me. It is not pre-recorded. You and your team will be able to ask questions, contribute to the discussion, and participate in exercises.
  • We'll discuss the topic and do exercises together to reinforce the ideas and allow you an opportunity to practice in a low-risk environment.
  • Sessions can be scheduled all in one day, on separate days in the same week, or once a week for three weeks.

The Sessions:

Developing Stakeholder Empathy

Developing Empathy for Stakeholders

We often learn to develop empathy for the users of our products, but rarely apply the same thinking to the people whose support we need to be successful. We need to develop empathy for our stakeholders, too, if we expect to get the support and buy-in on our projects. Developing stakeholder empathy will enable us to approach them with the right mindset and articulate our design decisions in a way that appeals to their needs.

Designing Design Meetings

Designing Design Meetings

Our goal with design meetings should be create a focused environment where our stakeholders are more likely to support our decisions. To do this, we have to design our design meetings better by setting the appropriate context, optimizing for memory, removing distractions, anticipating reactions, and bringing in other people who can help.

Responding to Design Feedback

Responding to Design Feedback

Responding to design feedback requires you to form your words in a way that will yield the best response by staying focused on the goal of the meeting: to get support and agreement to move forward. To accomplish this, we can break down our response into several core parts. This logic flows together and makes it possible for us to present our reasoning in such a way that it will communicate the very best response.

Who are these classes for?

Anyone who needs to talk about design! Regardless of your role, everyone needs to be better at articulating design decisions. While most attendees are usually designers, I've had many developers, content strategists, product owners, researchers, and business leaders attend. The content, strategies, and exercises easily cross roles.

Senior designers too?

Yep! It's common for senior designers to say they don't need this. Those same people also tell me how much they learned afterward! Even if you have experience, how often are you applying deliberate effort to improve in this area? You may be a black belt, but every time you step on the mat you have to be practiced and ready.

What People Are Saying

FAQs

How can I schedule this for my team?
Just email me! I have limited availability but am happy to try and work around your schedule.
Is this the same as your in-person workshop?
Much of the content is the same, but the activities and level of interaction is limited by the online format. It's all the same principles, tactics, and ideas from my book. If you've already done the in-person workshop, these classes are probably not as valuable except to reinforce what you've already learned.
Can I get the slides afterward?
Yes, I'm happy to share the slides afterward. I usually email them to all attendees, but remind me if I forget.