7 tips for designers to be more effective presenters

This article is part of Tech in Asia’s partnership with Traveloka, where we publish articles that feature the company’s valuable insights. Read more from Traveloka here.

Designers, have you ever found yourself in a situation where, while presenting your design, someone suddenly cut you off with one of the following questions:

A: “Why is this part so different from our current design?”

Then you explain that actually, it’s still the current design.

B: “The copy seems too long. The actual version wouldn’t be that long.”

Then you explain that it is just placeholder content.

C: “Why does this part look strange?”

Then you’re not sure how to respond.

In the end, the wrong focus made the discussion unproductive. And judging from the above conversation, perhaps it’s not your design that’s wrong, but rather the way you communicate it.

Why are communication skills important to a designer?

Quoting from Tom Greever’s book Articulating Design Decisions, here’s what we need to accomplish when delivering a design:

1. Solves a problem
2. Easy for users to understand
3. Approved and supported by all stakeholders, team or client

As designers, we empathize not only with users, but also with our team—the ones building the product together.

In addition, the purpose of effective communication is to find the best solution, not to prove that we are the best designers. Focused discussions lead to relevant feedback and make our designs approved by other members of the team.

1. Define your context and goals before presenting the design

2. Recognize the main concerns of stakeholders

3. Prepare alternatives

4. Articulate the reasons behind a design decision

5. Listen, listen, and listen!

6. Document and follow up

7. Last but not least, have confidence!

This article was first published in Indonesian on the Traveloka blog.