In this talk I'll speak a little bit about certain techniques to get a more open and positive engagement from stakeholders who aren't used to UX. I'll talk about what they need to hear to let you do the work you want to do, how to deal with them and how to get leverage in the meeting room by doing what we do best — designing.

1. Garnering positive engagement
from stakeholders
who don’t understand UX
Fritz von Runte, 2015

2. 20
10
5
1

3. 20
10
5
1
Design
UX
Implementing UX
NICE

4. UX London + Ladies that UX + NUX
LX-UX + Future of Web Design
Talk UX + LeanConf + Camp Digital

5. utopia

6. “oh but you don’t know my boss”
“things at my company are a bit… funny”
“we don’t have the budget”
“I’m the only person that cares about UX”

7. ?

8. persuasion

9. motivation

10. predicting needs

11. education just in time

12. ?

13. “it was hard for me too”
Fritz von Runte, 2015

14. Identifying
needs
Developing
solutions
Generating
ideas
Prototyping
Evaluating Research

15. Ask
Think
DiscussBuild
Test Learn

16. Think
Test Learn

17. learn
think
test

18. Simplify the stakeholder’s
requirements
(in their presence!)
1
learn

19. Simplify the stakeholder’s
requirements
(in their presence!)
• 5 whys
• opinions become questions
• business goals ≠ user needs
1
learn

20. Transform insights and
questions into research
2
learn

21. Transform insights and
questions into research
• quant data without qual data is mis-
leading and incomplete
• we are biased and the more we think we
know the futher away from users we are
2
learn

22. Bring stakeholders to the
lab / interview / guerrilla
3
learn

23. Bring stakeholders to the
lab / interview / guerrilla
• always go to research knowing what you
want to discover
• don’t ever let the stakeholder facilitate
• make sure they understand the process
first
3
learn

24. Keep you finger on the
pulse
4
learn

25. Keep you finger on the
pulse
• when a stakeholder sends you an article
of a blog or magazine, subscribe it
• when stakeholders use market metrics
to justify anything, learn all about it
• always read twitter/facebook comments
4
learn

26. Present the learnings in a
very succinct manner
5
learn

27. Present the learnings in a
very succinct manner
• bulletpoint the learnings
• prioritise them
• clearly and concisely
• define ‘actions’ before they can do it for
you
5
learn

28. learn
think
test

29. Prioritise information with
the stakeholders
1
think

30. Prioritise information with
the stakeholders
• multi-disciplinary product development
• card sorting
• explain MVP and emulate it
• get a good notion of how they REALLY
think
1
think

31. Rapid prototyping is good,
but first design the service
2
think

32. Rapid prototyping is good,
but first design the service
• try to focus on the problem and solution
not on UI, technical constrains or apps
• what pain points are we improving?
• leave the drawings and wireframes for
the end of the meeting
2
think

33. Visual design for last3
think

34. Visual design for last
• if your website / app already exists, the
visual is pratically automatic anyway
• By downplaying the role of the visual de-
sign at this moment, you own it again
and discussions are about solutions not
pixels, colours or fonts.
3
think

35. If working on wireframes
without the stakeholders,
do various versions
4
think

36. If working on wireframes
without the stakeholders,
do various versions
• don’t stick only to the best solution, try
alternatives
• try something you think they’ll suggest
and keep it under your sleeve
4
think

37. Let go of the ego5
think

38. Let go of the ego
• Don’t defend your ideas, defend the
best ones.
• Don’t mistake multi-disciplinary
product development with Design by
committee — you’re still the designer!
5
think

39. learn
think
test

40. Define success with the
stakeholders
1
test

41. Define success with the
stakeholders
• Is success more profit, or is it improv-
ing the pain points captured on ‘learn’?
• Go to test understanding what you want
to discover
1
test

42. If stakeholders have ‘users’
make it a blind test
2
test

43. If stakeholders have ‘users’
make it a blind test
• Users should be as unbiased as possible
• The results shouldn’t be present with
names or in raw format
• Interviews are open-ended but tests are
focused
2
test

44. Go back to THINK for
re-iterations!
3
test

45. Go back to THINK for
re-iterations!
• Learnings from tests shouldn’t define
new solutions, they define new problems
• Don’t solutionise at the lab
• The solution is not necessarily wrong,
sometimes is about tweaking a bit
3
test

46. Use the appropriate test4
test

47. Use the appropriate test
• A/B testing is for quantifiable metrics
• Usability Testing is for Usability
• If you’re improving pain points test it
with users with the same needs and pro-
cess as the ones researched
4
test

48. Make sure the test isn’t a
like / dislike exercise
5
test

49. Make sure the test isn’t a
like / dislike exercise
• Testing is not about opinions
• Testing is not about validation of work,
but validation of solution
• Define success before testing
5
test

50. takeaway

52. step one
We can have lots of fun!

53. step two
There’s so much we can do!

54. step three
It’s just you and me...

55. step four
I can give you more...

56. step five
Don’t you know that the time is right?

57. Thank you
@fritzvonrunte