How Do You Win Support for Your Designs?
From It Depends, an advice column about design and tech
A few months ago a designer write a tweetstorm that started like this:
“Now that Google+ has been shuttered, I should air my dirty laundry on how awful the project and exec team was. I’m still pissed about the bait and switch they pulled by telling me I’d be working on Chrome, then putting me on this god forsaken piece of shit on day one.”
Nirawit thought it might be a good topic for It Depends. He clarified further:
“I think one question would be: how do you win support for your design in an org where maybe people aren’t so supportive or enthusiastic?”
It’s a great question. Many books have been written about this topic, and many designers have burned out because they couldn’t find a way forward on this. So. Let’s dive in.
Stop Saying “I Hate Politics”
Everyone in tech says they hate the politics that comes with the job. Well, not everyone. Just the people that fail, and people fresh out of school.
People often use the word “politics” as a shorthand for “collaborating across multiple teams, each of whom has different goals that you need to consider.” Most people take the phrase as high-minded and noble, with a dash of common sense. “We’re here to make something great,” they proclaim, as if making something great is somehow divorced from talking to humans.
Some people really believe this. Those poor, poor dears.
Step one to winning support for your designs: stop thinking that politics is a bad word. Stop thinking that talking to others is slowing you down. Stop believing that everything would be fine if everyone would just leave you alone long enough for you to make the world’s greatest design. That’s not how anything works. It’s not going to work at a corporation.
Figure Out People’s Motivations
The engineer wants to make something great but also has concerns about the quality of the code they’re being asked to deliver on a quick timeline. The product owner wants to make something great that can move metrics like new sales, or engagement stats, or whatever. The executive has the board breathing down their neck about executing a multi-year turnaround plan. Everyone has motivations. Figure them out and care about them.
Directly Ask How Coworkers Like to Work
When you join a team with a new person, take them out for coffee and ask them what they like to see out of a designer. Product owners all pretty much say the same thing. They want a designer with a point of view … that can also take other information on board, and even change their mind if warranted. Designers are famous for not caring about any aspect of the business other than the design, and their designs suffer for it. If you can be a designer that holds a high bar for design but also knows how to compromise, you’ll be in a good place.
People Should Ask For You By Name
At Twitter they give promotions based on five key areas. One is whether or not your coworkers ask for you by name. Some designers are a pain, so people ask not to work with them. The middle 80% are fine, so people are fine with them. But the top 10% are easy to find because people really love to work with them. How can you be one of them? Well, it depends. But it’s probably going to do less with your grid and typography choices and more to do with how you are to work with.
Lay the Groundwork Early
Once someone asked me how to save a work relationship after a year of fighting, and a week before a product was set to go live. This is like a couple going to couples therapy 3 days before divorcing. It might be too late.
Every new person you get to work with is a chance to build the best working relationship you’ve ever had. And the best working relationship your coworker has had as well. If you put in a lot of work up front, you don’t end up with giant fights later on. Build rapport. Listen. Care. Adjust accordingly.
You Win More When People Enjoy Your Company
Let go of the idea that your design is the right approach. Let go of the idea that only you can fight for the user. Let go of the idea that you have great taste, and the belief that if only they’d let you make more decisions, the design would improve. It’s simply not true.
Software design isn’t actually as mystical and complicated as we make it seem. Learning the tools and foundational skills isn’t rocket science. Anyone can learn it if they put in the time. But there is one surprising detail that it took me too long to learn. The single most important aspect of a designer, more than literally any other skill – even those twin red herrings of “passion” and “taste” – is if people actually want to be in the same room as them.
Get that right and everything else falls into place.
