Donna Spensor

Do you love doing design work, but dread the inevitable design reviews that follow? Dread no more! Donna Spencer has the blueprint for a winning design presentation--one that conveys confidence, communicates your vision, and nets you frustration-free feedback you can actually use. Brimming with real-world expertise, Presenting Design Work will reshape how you share your work with clients, colleagues, and stakeholders, consistently leading you to better project results

Presenting Design Work

Jaydee (she/her)

I think the stress has two sources. The first comes from the general difficulty of presenting; the second involves a real lack of clarity about why we present in the first place.

On the surface, it seems that we present our work to show what we've done-to demonstrate progress, communicate our skills, and present the actual designs. What's less obvious is that presenting isn't actually about presenting. It's more about listening, communicating, and inviting other people into the design process. Showing something off is just a way to win more involvement. 

Alex scrambles to make some notes. She hadn't anticipated these kinds of questions, most of which don't even seem to be related to what she just showed.

Alex walks out of that presentation feeling frustrated. She's sure the work is good, but the stakeholders didn't react well. Every week, they ask the same questions and give feedback that isn't relevant. 

Presentations can be much better than this. Here's what happens in a great presentation:

• The audience understands what's happening and what's expected of them. 

• Stakeholders listen, ask smart, relevant questions, and give feedback that's related to their expertise (instead of opinion). 

• You feel calm, confident, and in control. 

• The entire team walks away able to create a much better product.

But how do we get there? Let's start with understanding why we present our work in the first place.

When I meet designers who express concerns about their presentations, often it's because they feel that presenting is a validation of their value and their skills, which makes it hard not to take criticism very personally.

 The best thing I can do for these designers is help remove ego from the equation. Presenting your work is not about getting a pat on the back, validation of your skills, or congratulations for doing well. It's about using the skills and experience of a large, diverse group of people to improve the product or service.

 When designers don't think they need to share their work, don't want to ask for feedback, and don't want to make changes as a result of feedback, it shows that there is a problem in the design process. Sometimes designers have a lack of confidence. Sometimes, they feel a lot of ownership over the design. Sometimes it's just how they saw designers work in a previous job. Whatever the cause, these designers haven't realized that the whole team owns the design.

Describe both sides of the problem: the business and user problem, using the same sequence your client uses. If they usually talk about the user problem they are trying to solve, start with that. If they typically tallk about the business problem they are trying to solve, start with that. But make sure you cover both sides of the problem. In Alex's example, the people in the meeting always talk about how to promote local businesses that sell secondhand products, so she knows that she should first reinforce that she understands what they are trying to do. 

A user-focused story doesn't talk about features or screen elements, and discourages the audience from focusing on those, too. 

The thing you absolutely, positively must not do is a real-estate tour-that is, a screen-by-screen walk-through of a page while pointing out its features. Alex did this during her first presentation. A walk-through doesn't put the screens in the context of a person doing a thing. It draws attention to the features instead of the tasks or benefits and will earn you detailed questions and feedback about the elements on the screen instead of the overall task.

Think about what your audience know and understand. If you use terms they don't understand or find relevant, they'll switch off, feel stupid, or contribute their uninformed opinion-none of which will give you the feedback you need. 

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