Help Your Teammates Understand the Value of Design
I’ve had many coworkers come to me asking me to help them make something look nicer, make something look pretty, or spice something up.
I’m happy that the things I create end up looking better and creating more visual interest than their original counterparts — but part of me also cringes when my coworkers say these words.
I’m betting that most designers could empathize here, as we know that our job isn’t just to simply make things look pretty. Our first and foremost goal is to create a functional, usable product that solves a problem. We don’t just make things look nice, we create value.
As a designer, of course you understand this. You understand the value that good design can bring and how it can improve a user’s experience with your product or company. But your coworkers are still caught up on the notion that you’re just there to make everything look nice. Whether you work as an in-house designer or for clients, the struggle to help others understand the value of the services you provide is real.
So, how do you get your non-designer coworkers/clients to understand the value of design?
Simply put, it’s your responsibility as a designer to educate your coworkers on the value that good design can bring to a project. It’s an unfortunate but true fact — you can’t expect your coworkers to go out and read articles about design thinking or take a course on the subject. You have to take a stand here, as this is probably one of your most important tasks as a designer and can ultimately lead to greater success in your career path of choosing.
My creative teammate and I are constantly working to help our coworkers recognize our value. These strategies have helped our coworkers understand the value of design thinking and helped permeate this mindset into the way that our team approaches projects as a whole. Here are some of the strategies that we practice on a regular basis that help us relate the value of design to others.
Speak up about your skill set as a resource.
Chances are, you bring more to the table than most of your teammates know. Whether it’s your ability to write code, create videos, animations, etc., your team may not be using your skill set to its full advantage. Offering to work on projects that your team thinks they don’t have the resources for can help them realize your value as a resource. It’s important that your teammates recognize that you provide services and skills just as they do — you’re not just a machine that spits out creative work. Helping them understand what you have to offer will help your teammates see your value as more than just a commodity. You’ll help keep your company’s vision in line (rather than having to outsource work), and save your team some extra cash while you’re at it. Just be sure to keep your current workload in mind and avoid overloading yourself with too many projects.
Ask to be included in discussions and brainstorms.
If you’re not already being included in the planning phases of projects, you should ask to be. Most of the time, your coworkers don’t think you need to be in meetings at an early stage because they can just loop you in for your specific tasks when things are all sorted out. Designers can bring a very interesting and different perspective to the table, helping to reveal constraints or new alternate approaches that may make more sense for the situation. By showing your interest and consistently participating in these discussions, your coworkers will get in the habit of asking for your opinion and you can show the true value of your perspective.
Invite your teammates to give feedback on your work.
On the other hand, you should reciprocate the favor by inviting your coworkers to review and provide feedback on your work. Starting open design discussions with your coworkers helps them learn the lingo that you use to articulate your work, and also helps them recognize that there is reasoning behind the way that you designed something. This is key — by showing that you’re designing with a user, or goal in mind, you show that design isn’t just about aesthetics, but is actually driven by strategy. If your teammates need some help and tips for giving you feedback, you should check out some strategies I have for that here.
Bring tangible results to the table.
When presenting your work to your team, be sure to show tangible evidence of success beyond the designs you’ve created. Analytics, statistics, and metrics are key to helping you illustrate the value of your work. If you can show that your design has generated more leads or responses than products that were being used in the past, it is likely that your team will have an easier time correlating this success to your design. By showing that your product has generated business results beyond just looking nice, your coworkers can see that good design can help them achieve their numbers as well.
Hopefully you’ll be able to use some of these strategies to help your coworkers realize the value you bring as a designer. What kinds of strategies do you use? Leave a comment and let’s discuss!
