Executives are kind of a funny lot. Not all are trained to be group collaborators yet coordinate with very strong personalities. Most are driven by fact-based proven statistical metrics yet want that elusive charm\/desire factor for buzz and sales. Many speak of brand values of the company yet make agonizingly tough decisions that seem counter-intuitive, impacting the team or product. Whew! How in the world do you design with or for these folks? It can be a trying experience for the unprepared, no question!<\/p>\n
Yet having the memorable opportunity to engage with executives to debate concepts and shape customer experience strategy…well that’s simply priceless! You want to make a great impression at the table, so to speak.<\/p>\n
Below are a few lessons I’ve been quietly capturing lately, per recent experiences on various projects with execs:<\/p>\n
– Assert your point of view.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0You’re there for a reason, take advantage! Make your informed opinion known. That might mean talking over them and “elbowing” your way in a bit (many have strong points of view themselves to assert!) but they will respect your direct, candid perspective. (Corollary: Don’t apologize, ever, for anything. Simply assert and focus, very briefly. Execs are time-pressed!)<\/p>\n – Simplify and explain the concept<\/strong> like to a child (not that execs are child-like, of course ;-) Use visuals! Avoid the temptation for geeky “design-speak”. Use various familiar analogies and metaphors, particularly from pop culture or everyday objects & tools.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n – It’s ok to disagree<\/strong>, with defensible credible rationale. Beware: “because It’s cool” is not a useful rationale (unless speaking strictly of style trends)! There will be merciless disagreement if you say that. Be objective and reasoned.<\/p>\n – Don’t attempt to wear hats you’re not qualified to wear<\/strong>, like marketing or engineering. If you don’t know, admit it and request proper inputs from those peers.<\/p>\n – Many execs love to sketch<\/strong> and visualize their ideas! Let them and then leverage that for productive discussions. Poke holes and raise critical issues (respectfully ;-)<\/p>\n – They want specific, tangible, immediate ideas and actions, not abstractions or theory<\/strong>. Keep that at home. But explain the principles<\/strong> behind your suggestions, framed by concrete examples with real data as much as possible. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Executives are kind of a funny lot. Not all are trained to be group collaborators yet coordinate with very strong personalities. Most are driven by fact-based proven statistical metrics yet want that elusive charm\/desire factor for buzz and sales. Many speak of brand values of the company yet make agonizingly tough decisions that seem counter-intuitive, … Continue reading “On designing with execs”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-stuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=870"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":871,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870\/revisions\/871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghostinthepixel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}