4 questions to ask yourself before presenting designs
Being able to successfully communicate your message is as important (if not more) as the message itself.
Designers frequently overlook the importance of presenting designs. And for some of us who do, treat it as a transaction instead of being mindful about it. There is nothing easy about presenting one’s designs and requires a lot of confidence and practice.
Over the years, having presented countless designs (of every possible readiness), one of my most important learnings has been to be intentional about putting up my designs for review and getting the stakeholders on board.
The following are 4 questions that have enabled me to be a more thoughtful presenter and get stakeholders on board.
1. Am I presenting or getting feedback on my designs?
Set an appropriate context at the beginning of the meeting. One of my favorite slides in a presentation deck is often the “Asks” slide. It helps the presenters to be clear in the input they require from their audience and it reminds the audience why they are in the room while keeping the discussion focused. At the very beginning, explain to the audience the type of feedback you are and are not looking for.
Presentations are generally structured and one-way communication. Use this type of conversation when you want to present completed work for approval or as a show and tell to share your learnings and work. Presentations follow a strict structure of the problem you are trying to solve, who is the problem about and how did you solve it. I feel most comfortable in presenting the design solution that I am most confident about (or worked out the best) instead of discussing the entire step by step design process or the n number of explorations. It makes the audience give focused feedback instead of getting confused.
Critique or reviews, on the other hand, are intended to get focused feedback on your in-progress designs. Use these when you need clarity/constructive inputs from your team to validate design choices or overcome one or more specific obstacles. Kick off a critique by stating the problem at hand, followed by design(and/or business) goals and user scenarios. Critiques work best when unfinished work is discussed. This encourages the audience to give honest feedback as the work doesn’t come across as final and finished. The intent is not to just show designs but tell the rationale/thinking behind them as well. Another important information to be shared during these sessions are the project constraints and learnings from previous critiques (if any). Discuss the timelines/priorities and business limitations of the project at hand to give your audience the context of the project.
2. Whom am I trying to convey my message to?
Knowing your audience is primal. As designers, we are taught to understand our users before we start solving problems for them. Extend this practice outside the domain of “problem-solving” to understand your users (audience) for your product (presentation/designs) and make it relevant for them. Take time to understand what success looks like to them and tailor your message accordingly.
If you are presenting to an audience who is equally invested in your users and solving their problems, walk through your design solutions and explain your rationale. Talk about your approach and its benefits. However, if the success of your audience lies in the efficient use of time and resources of the company, it would help to spend more effort on how your designs solve the (project/business) goals instead of deep-diving into the rationale behind each of your solution.
3. Do my artifacts accurately convey my message?
What and how you communicate should be in line with your intent. For example, If the intent is to convey what your design does, get rid of the embellishments and visual elements so that your audience does not focus on the visuals.
A helpful question to ask yourself here would be: “Am I using the right fidelity of mock-ups?”. There are various fidelities in which you would want to convey your message:
- Rough, hand-drawn sketches and concept maps
Use this to convey that you are in the ideation phase. Loose hand-drawn sketches will help you understand and explore the problem space better while allowing you to quickly synthesize your understanding. - Low/Medium-fidelity wireframes
Move to low/medium-fidelity wireframes when you have started to turn your ideas into artifacts and are ready to get some early feedback. Depending on your needs and time at hand, these could either be hand-drawn (paper sketches) or digital.
The benefits of using low/medium-fidelity includes:
1. Apt for concept validation. Focus on getting feedback on workflows and conveying “how the design works” before you start focusing on the visual details.
2. Including non-designer stakeholders in your ideation process and quickly explore many ideas.
3. Users respond much better to this fidelity during user testing. It makes your designs look like a work in progress, but concrete enough to convey your message. - High-fidelity mockups
High fidelity mocks communicate the final designs and are closest to reality. Use them in the refinement stage of your design process to get feedback on the final visual cues (graphics, layouts, etc.) in addition to the workflows. These are especially useful in getting pointed feedback on particular aspects of the product. These, however, might give the impression that your designs are fairly finalized and hence invite very few opportunities for radical feedback on workflows. - Interactive prototypes
Interactive prototypes are very useful for user testing and validation, wherein you want the users to self drive the session. It’s a great way to test the finer details like micro-interactions and expose a potential design flaw before one starts investing in the real code.
“UX Prototypes: Low Fidelity vs. High Fidelity” is a thorough read about deciding which fidelity of prototype is the best for you.
4. Is my message memorable?
The story is the key. When your audience leaves the room, they might forget how your designs looked like but they will always remember your story. Instead of jumping around art-boards, showing disconnected/random UI screens, walk through the flow of your designs as an actual use-case. Tell the story of a day in the life of your users, their pain points and how you saved their day.
Choosing an apt metaphor or a persona will help you convey your message through something that your audience already knows and cares about. These could be already established user personas in your teams/organizations. For example, within the Photoshop Express team, we have a shared understanding of our user aka hobbyist or a social sharer, and all our discussions revolve around them.
Although, it’s very easy to go overboard. Make sure the metaphor doesn’t overpower your message.
