Download - Great Design Through People Skills
Great Design through People Skills
or...nice guys finish first
Christina Wodtke
Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web
Why bother?
• Problems– They don’t understand
what I do– We get called in too
late– I don’t want to be a
colorist
• Desires– I want to be taken
seriously– I want my design to
see the light of day– I want to get promoted
The Foundation of Influence
1. Understand your network
2. Know your value
3. Articulate your value
4. Prove it
5. Advertise your successes
6. Package yourself
7. Use persuasion strategies
Understand Your Network
People are everything
Your Network Keeps You Afloat
• When you have a problem
• When you need advice
• When you need information
• When you need to build consensus
• When you don’t even know you need them…
Your Work Network
• People with direct effect on your job– Your boss– Product management– Marketing– Accounting– Your employees
Your Extended Work Network
• Who do you know who– Does what you do – else where– Knows things you need to know– Knows the people you know
How far up can your network go?
Persuasion Strategy #1
Authority“Just doing what I was told”
The Milgram StudiesThe HolocaustJapanese Internment Camps
Titles
Clothes
Body language
Sell down, not up
Your personal network
• Casual Contacts– Security– Coffee shop– Receptionist
• Professional– AIGA, CHI, AIfIA– Alumni associations– Fellow travelers
• Personal– Friends, family
Nurture the Network
• Be friendly and polite always
• Small talk is exercise– good for you
• Don’t always ask for something
• Notice people
• Listen
You have time for this.
Persuasion Strategy #2 Liking
We prefer to say ‘yes’ to the requests of people we know and like
Friends
Physical attractiveness
Similarity
Compliments
Grow your network
• Use org charts to identify people• Target the people who affect your work• Use your network to meet them• Do research first
– What is their background?– What do they think of design?
• Understand company and department issues• Meet them– then meet again. Nurture.• Follow up with an email, article or report.
Persuasion Strategy #3
Reciprocity
We are obligated to repay what another person has done for us
“Free” gifts and samplesCalistoga water
Mailing stickers
Hari Krishna flowers
“You would do the same for me”
Help others grow their network
• It’s nice• It promotes good
feelings• People will do the
same for you• Peter Merholz: master
of the introduction
Know your value
• Why are you valuable?
Know your value
• Why are you valuable to the business?
What are you reading?
Hint: you can read both… and your company’s memos, reports and goals.
Know your value
• Why are you valuable to the business that is unique to your role?– Why can Design help– Why can IA help– Why can User Research help
Do you know the answer?
Exercise
• List your strengths.. All of them• Cross out those that aren’t relevant to
business• Cross out those that others can offer
Now you have your core value
(Note: great to do in a weekly staff meeting!)
User Experience Design is Valuable Because…
• Understand consumer needs and wants• Understand how those can be executed
in product choices• Can prototype and test the value before
expensive building• Can innovate and create unique
productsMore examples?
Articulate your value
• The elevator pitch• What do you say when people ask you what you
do?• What do you say when you can say more?
I create the visual manifestation of the business strategy as set by the board of directors and the CEO
Spin Doctor
“Yes, you have your story of what you've done in your job, but you have to put the best twist on it. On each gig, you must be marketing your worth, marketing Me Inc. “
-- Tom Peters
User Experience Design is Valuable Because…
Through an understanding of core customer desires, needs, and behavior, we design products that are desirable, useful, innovative and keep the company profitable.
Prove it
• Excellence is not enough
• But it’s still required
The proof of the pudding is in the tasting
Make good pudding every day
Become a Master
“Competence in many skills is important, but it's not enough. The act is finding the stuff you love and getting so damn good at it that you become an indispensable human being. “ – Tom Peters
Advertise your successes
• Case studies• Posters• Diagrams• PowerPoint
"Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does."
- Steuart Henderson Britt
Package You
• Design yourself• Don’t buy into the
designer myth• Appear to be what
you want to be
• Strategize your stage presence
Would you trust this man with a million dollar project if you were CEO?
How do you communicate?
Three pitcher types• The Showrunner
– Practical intelligence
• The Artist– Bleeds creativity
• The Neophyte – Wants to learn
How to Pitch a Brilliant Idea
by Kimberly D. Elsbach
Harvard Business Review September 2003
Reprint Number R0309J
Will you play the artist? Will you go to important meetings? Do you want to?
Everything you do is you
• What questions do you ask?
• What issues do you pay attention to?
• How are you in meetings?
• What meetings do you attend?
• What does that say about you?
Part Two
You In Action
The Project Lifecycle
Four Key Human Moments
• Requirements gathering
• Design presentations
• Sign off
• Surviving the launch
Requirements gathering
• Critical for– Meeting people– Making them feel heard– Hearing them
Requirements gathering
• Create a requirements document– Living but stable document– Provides reference to motivators– Offers background– Captures decisions– Records sign-off
Requirements Document
1. Project Overview– What are we doing– Why are we doing it– Why are we doing it now– What will be a successful outcome
2. Category Review• Who are the competitors? The players?
Requirements Document
3. Target Audience– Everyone on the web?– Strategic advantage of focus
4. Company Portfolio• What else do they have?
5. Design Objectives & Execution Guidelines– Style guides and exceptions
Requirements Document
6. Project Scope, Timeline and Budget• Talk them through• Do phases• Justify each one
7. Research Data• Collect all previous• Add your own as you go
8. Appendix
Persuasion Strategy #5
Consistency Once we make a choice or take a stand, we will
encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with that commitment
Signing petitions & non-binding contracts
The foot-in-the-door technique “Drive Safely” study Long sales pitches
Bait-and-switch
Understand your Players
• What kind of person is the key stakeholder?– Power– Recognition– Social
• What are their design tastes, concerns– Mood boards– Competitive reviews
Mood Boards
• Opportunity to gather values
• Invite stakeholders to play
• Understand their tastes, phobias
Presenting your design
• Before the presentation– Get feedback early– Collect body of work– how we got here
• At the presentation– Recap the history of the project– Reiterate goals (memes good)– Discuss process to arrive– research good!
Presentation
• Walk through your design (findings, architecture)
• Explain reasoning• Avoid Jargon• Keep it impersonal and opinion-free
– NEVER use “I like” or “I thought”– Only “It works because…”
• Refer to your consensus activities
Persuasion Strategy #7
Social ProofWe view a behavior as correct in a given situation to the degree that we see others performing it
Canned laughter
“Priming” tip jars
Seeding the audience
“Best selling” & “Most popular”
Presentation
• You can ask to have all question held until the end
• If you don’t know, say so. (But promise a time for the answer)
• Turn pixel criticism into discussions• Take notes!• If you are angry, defer.• Say you will address the issues, but don’t cave.• Thank people for their time.
Sign off
• Get sign off at each critical point
• Get it in writing
• Note the logic behind it… you’ll need it later
Open question: who should have sign off?
Holding on during launch• Earlier Sign off is critical
• Remind panicker of previous logic
• Discuss risk of change
• Discuss time pressures
• Sleep on it
• Be stubborn when it counts
Persuasion Strategy #8
Scarcity Opportunities seem more valuable to us when they are
less available
Supply and demand Scarce resources are more valuable More valuable resources are more scarce
Limited time offers “X minutes left to call” “1-Day Only!”
So Remember
1. Understand your network
2. Know your value
3. Articulate your value
4. Prove it
5. Advertise your successes
6. Package yourself
And use Persuasion Strategies Reciprocity
Consistency
Social proof
Liking
Authority
Scarcity
Conclusion
• We aren’t artists
• We aren’t a service
• We are partners in business success
KNOW YOUR VALUE AND HYPE IT
Be great every day
Reading List
Books
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by BeingRemarkable by Seth Godin ISBN: 159184021XLearn to speak to marketing…
First, Break All the Rules: What the World'sGreatest Managers Do Differently by MarcusBuckingham (Author), Curt Coffman (Author) ISBN: 0684852861 It’s what your managers are reading…
Make It Bigger by Paula Scher ISBN: 1568983328 Look ma, a design book! Learn to sell down, not up….
Building Strong Brands by David A. Aaker ISBN: 002900151X Brand is the easiest way to express design value
The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity fromIdeo, America's Leading Design Firm by TomKelley, et al; ISBN: 0385499841 Ideo knows how to sell design solutions
Harvard Business Review Articles
How to Pitch a Brilliant Idea Publication Date: Sep 1, 2003Author(s): Kimberly D Elsbach Product Number: R0309J
What Is Strategy? Publication Date: Feb 1, 2000Author(s): Michael E. Porter Product Number: 4134
Subscribe, there are many more….
Other articles
Soft Skills for Information ArchitectureBy Jeff Lashhttp://www.digital-web.com/columns/ianythinggoes/ianythinggoes_2003-09.shtml
Q&A
Christina [email protected]
www.yahoo.com LEARN MORE!book : : www.blueprintsfortheweb.com
zine : : www.boxesandarrows.com
blog : : www.eleganthack.com
peeps : : www.aifia.org
DRINK MORE!AIfIA F2FDay: Wednesday Oct 15thTime: 8- until we are doneLocation the Cambridge Brewing Company (two blocks from conference hotel)See website http://www.cambrew.com/