Ok, so [these aren’t my notes](http:\/\/www.lukew.com\/ff\/entry.asp?676)–in fact, I didn’t even attend the event–but they’re probably the best description I’ve seen on how to increase the strategic impact of design work within a company.<\/p>\n
*Treat strategic influence like a design problem* – Who is the “user” in your situation–who do you need to influence, and what are their goals?<\/p>\n
*Use your existing design skills* – In a meeting with business and engineering folks, you’ll never out-business or out-engineer them. Instead, focus on the unique knowledge and skills you do have. You’re a designer–design stuff!<\/p>\n
*Start with the minimum you need to prove your concept* – The grand vision is great, but look for ways to prove its value with quick projects.<\/p>\n
*The Role of the Victim* – Designers often feel like victims of circumstances or constraints outside their control. Instead, it’s helpful to analyze why things went wrong, and what might have made it work better.<\/p>\n
*Selling Design* – If they understand how we do our work, they’ll respect it more, right? Not if they don’t care how you do your work. Focus on what’s in it for them.<\/p>\n
*Providing Leadership* – Don’t wait for a mandate–just step up and do what you think needs to be done.<\/p>\n
*Using Metrics* – What metrics really reflect the core user experience? Which ones will influence how we do design? How might we start tracking those?<\/p>\n
*Pattern Recognition* – Step back, take in all the elements of the product and experience, and look for patterns.<\/p>\n
*Story Telling* – Design your presentation as a compelling story, rather than a set of metrics. Persuade with emotion.<\/p>\n
*Visual Communication* – Again, you’re a designer–design!<\/p>\n
*Empathy* – Bring personal stories and people’s needs into product decisions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ok, so [these aren’t my notes](http:\/\/www.lukew.com\/ff\/entry.asp?676)–in fact, I didn’t even attend the event–but they’re probably the best description I’ve seen on how to increase the strategic impact of design work within a company. *Treat strategic influence like a design problem* – Who is the “user” in your situation–who do you need to influence, and what…more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-design"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9wjHJ-B2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bob.ryskamp.org\/brain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bob.ryskamp.org\/brain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bob.ryskamp.org\/brain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bob.ryskamp.org\/brain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bob.ryskamp.org\/brain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2296"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bob.ryskamp.org\/brain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2298,"href":"https:\/\/bob.ryskamp.org\/brain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2296\/revisions\/2298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bob.ryskamp.org\/brain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bob.ryskamp.org\/brain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bob.ryskamp.org\/brain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}