You're facing stakeholders who don't see the value of design. How do you convince them of its importance?

To effectively promote design, it is important to first understand stakeholder concerns. Often, design is perceived as an afterthought or as raising doubts about its return on investment. Your goal is to show empathy, understand their doubts, and customize your arguments based on that. This will allow you to not only respond to their specific concerns, but also demonstrate that you are not just a designer, but a strategic partner with business interests in mind.

Empathy is at the heart of design. Understanding peoples’ needs and wants can inform a meaningful design strategy. However, when design is an unknown or severely misunderstood and divested discipline, people often need assistance to craft their design challenge statements. In the case of ‘work design,’ where work is the design medium, design is often an unknown, an afterthought, or a divested strategy owned by specialists outside of the organisation. Most workplace leaders need help to articulate their challenges, and to consider this from many points of view. This inclusive characteristic of design thinking is a critical step in discovering distinct design opportunities. This provides an avenue to validate workers’ concerns.

One cynical answer is, 'You can bring a Philistine to creativity, but you can't make them appreciate it.' Bean counters are the hardest to convince, as they will almost certainly never get it. To butcher a well-known phrase; where there is no vision, the company will perish'. Bean counters tend to be blind to vision because creativity does not fit on their spreadsheets. Alternatively, you might point out that everything that makes their lives worth living, from handbags to theatre visits, the utensils in their kitchen, the train they travel on, and the clothes they wear, is the result of hard work by designers.

To successfully promote the design, start by listening carefully to the concerns of stakeholders. Some may see the design as unnecessary or doubt its return on investment. Your job is not just to understand their position, but to dig deep into their concerns and take them to heart. Only by understanding their point of view, you will be able to build arguments that will dispel all doubts and show the design from a new, more valuable side. This step is key: it helps establish a common ground for communication and demonstrates that you are not just a designer, but a strategic partner who sees the big picture and understands the needs of the business.

To persuade stakeholders of design's value, highlight its influence on customer happiness, corporate growth, and competitive advantage. Use facts and case studies to show how smart design enhances the user experience, decreases expenses, and increases income. Highlight successful examples from industry leaders and demonstrate how design fits into business goals. Engage stakeholders in the design process to foster empathy and understanding.

Once you've addressed their concerns, start speaking their language by emphasizing the importance of design through concepts such as return on investment (ROI), customer satisfaction, and market advantage. Show how design optimizes processes, improves user interaction, and promotes customer retention. Use analogies to explain how quality design works like a well-oiled machine: efficient, convenient, and cost-effective in the long run. Link design outcomes to business goals, showing that design investment is a contribution to the company's sustainability.

Make sure to communicate the long-term value of design, not just the immediate benefits. Explain how investing in design now can lead to sustained growth, stronger customer relationships, and a competitive edge in the market.

Once I understand the stakeholders’ concerns, the next step is to align design with business objectives. I will go ahead to show how design is not just about aesthetics but directly impacts key metrics like conversion rates, customer retention, brand perception, and user experience.

Would you build your dream house, hammer away on nails, guess what works, and fail fast with the kitchen marble with no architectural drawings, plumbing diagrams, electrical diagrams, or have the advantage of walking though a house that was previously built? Design is nothing without digital strategy and anyone hammering away or writing subjective code without pixel perfect designs are stealing money and creating digital debt at best. Simply ask the teams, "what are you building..." If they answer with, "agile" - run!

While addressing concerns ensures understanding, articulating value and usefulness of design is seen as testimony to growth. Introduce the design as a testimonial of financial turnout, customer satisfaction and value for money investment as per market needs. Allow them to see how design encourages better user satisfaction and repeat customers. Illustrate how good design can be align with businesses goals to acheive them efficiently. Your design should be presented as a logical, user-friendly, well planned value for money investment in there business.

To show the real impact of design, give specific examples. Tell stories where design has been a critical factor in product development, branding, or improving customer experience. Even if you don't have statistics, describe how design solved specific problems or improved workflows and increased sales. Such examples will help stakeholders see the real benefits and realize that design isn't just a matter of aesthetics. It's about creating effective solutions that contribute to business success.

Clients or stakeholders don't see much value in the design process as a whole because they can't visualise its tangible benefits. The client usually sees it as an expense, rather than an important investment for the business. How to solve this? Show numbers. Demonstrate the value of design in terms of achievable metrics. Show them several case studies where design helped in achieving various result metrics; like reduced CAC from x to y; increased ROAS from 3x to 5x; increased NPS from x to y and so on. This would help them measure the tangible benefit of design and understand that design is not just about creative artwork, it's more about creating business solutions.

Providing visual before-and-after comparisons or prototypes can also be compelling; it allows stakeholders to see potential results rather than just hear about them. Especially examples and case studies from your past works that illustrate how strategic design decisions have led to tangible business outcomes in similar scenarios. Since these examples are drawn from your own experience they are more relatable and credible, making your argument even more convincing.

Generally, anyone who speaks against the value of design in an outfit does not truly know what they're saying. Design has been valuable in just about every single campaign in history—from palaeolithic storytelling to World War 2 recruitment. Design is useful in hospital and road signage. Design is at the airport and coffee shop. It is on the ergonomic desk. From Architecture to Engineering to social media influencing, design can never be ignored. Every designer should be able to defend design, especially in this “information” culture. This defence must be in a language and context the stakeholder is familiar with and respects. Usually, this means showing how competitors use design. That gets every stakeholder's attention.

Clearly demonstrate the potential impact of good design on the business, whether it’s improving user experience, increasing engagement, or driving sales. Visuals, prototypes, or mockups can be especially powerful here.

I’ve noticed that stakeholders often have an idea or concept in mind—something they’ve seen from a competitor or imagined themselves. If that “picture” isn’t reflected in your design, they might struggle to appreciate it. Even if their ideas don’t perfectly align with your design goals, it’s important to let them voice their thoughts. Incorporate their ideas where possible, or take the time to explain why certain elements might not be the best fit. Never dismiss their input outright. Instead, remember to always define the "WHY" behind your design choices, bridging their vision with your expertise.

Get stakeholders involved early in the design process. When they have input from the start, they’re more likely to appreciate and support the value of design

I engage stakeholders early in the design process, involving them in brainstorming, user testing, and reviews. This hands-on participation helps them understand design decisions, see the value firsthand, and fosters a sense of ownership and support for the project.

Involving stakeholders in the design process helps build their understanding and appreciation for design. By inviting them to participate in brainstorming sessions or user testing, you give them a direct experience of how design works and its value. This hands-on involvement not only makes the process more transparent but also allows stakeholders to see how user feedback directly influences the final product. It’s an opportunity for them to witness the practical, problem-solving aspects of design and how it effectively addresses user needs while aligning with business objectives. This engagement fosters collaboration and strengthens their support for design initiatives.

When you involve people in a process with a genuine interest in helping them see value in what you are creating for them, with them and through them, they ultimately see value in the process. It's like not trying to convince someone by talking about it, instead letting them experience the process, and realise its value in due course. Design doesn't need selling when it makes the impact intended and achieves the objectives aimed for. The case is thus made.

I avoid design jargon and frame design in terms that resonate with stakeholders, focusing on how it impacts metrics and goals they care about, like revenue or customer satisfaction. This makes the value of design more relatable and persuasive to them.

Talk about design in a way that aligns with their priorities. If they’re focused on business goals, explain how design helps achieve those goals, like improving efficiency, building brand loyalty, or boosting sales.

There's a saying that if you want to catch a monkey, you behave like a monkey. So yeah, stakeholders don't value your work as a designer, then you as a designer need to relate your design with them in a manner they understand. Now, we are talking of business goals. All stakeholders are in business to make profits, achieve their goals and so on. Your design need to convey these features, your design must show and proof that they can achieve these things. Then you'll see that tables will turn and you'll be at the centre of any stakeholders meetings :)

Imagine design and business strategy as two people trying to have a conversation, but they speak different languages. The language barrier represents the disconnect that often exists between the creative and business sides of an organization. Just as a translator bridges the gap between different languages, framing design in business terms like CAC, LTV, and NPS serves as a common language. This shared understanding allows both sides to collaborate more effectively, ensuring that design decisions align with business objectives and contribute to measurable success.

The key to convincing stakeholders lies in speaking their language. Instead of focusing on aesthetics, emphasize the tangible benefits that design brings to the table. For example,if you can show them how $5/5mins. can save them $500/500mins. in the future, chances are they'll be salivating at the thought. ROIs go a long way with investors.

1- Be clear on the objectives shared by the client 2- Sometimes what the client wants is different from what they actually need. Help them understand that difference. 3- Sometimes the design might genuinely not be well crafted. Keep on the iteration process till it is perfect. 4- Build a storyline. The narrative of the design must have a strong foundation. Everything else you offer must be built on that in a structured and clear manner which is easy to understand. 5- Ask for time if you feel you are not ready to meet the client with your design. Explain your stance. It makes empathy easier for them.

Without design nothing can be done in proper way, no coordination among the different works will be there. Design is meaning that end users achieve their goals by their final product, the function of each partial element is achieved.

Instead of just pointing out problems, present design as the solution. Show how specific design decisions can solve challenges the stakeholders care about.

Design isn't just about making things look pretty. It's about making sure everything works together smoothly and achieves the same goal. When we focus on design, we're not just creating products; we're building bridges between our teams and our customers. It helps everyone understand what we're trying to achieve and why it matters.

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