How to defend your design decision?

As designers, creating solutions that are easy to use and navigate is at the core of what we do. We work hard to uncover problems and find the best ways to solve them. However, one important lesson I’ve learned is that it’s not enough to just create great designs. The why behind our decisions is just as important. If we can't explain those reasons clearly and get support from stakeholders, even the best designs won’t go far.

Getting buy-in from stakeholders isn’t always easy. Communicating effectively and aligning everyone on the same page is often one of the toughest parts of the design process. This is why the first two chapters of Articulating Design Decisions by Tom Greever really stood out to me. His points about the importance of getting support for your ideas echoed many of my own challenges.

Greever says, "It’s not enough to solve problems or make our app easy to use; without stakeholder support, even the best ideas can fail." This really resonated with me. You can have the most innovative design, but if no one on your team understands or supports it, it won’t get implemented the right way. I remember a time when I was the only designer in a highly technical team. I understood their needs and had a clear process to get the right information for our product demo. But, I struggled to communicate my process effectively and didn’t create an environment where everyone understood and trusted my work. As a result, we didn’t move forward as planned. Looking back, I realize that I could have done a better job at explaining my design process and making sure the team was on board.

We all make mistakes, and these experiences teach us valuable lessons. I hope that by sharing these lessons, other designers can learn how to better articulate their design decisions and communicate more effectively with their teams.

Know the audience & what they care about

Design often emphasizes empathy—understanding the user’s needs and perspectives—but let's be honest: how much empathy do we as designers invest in understanding our stakeholders? To truly improve communication and align with our teams, we need to build relationships, and this begins with active, attentive listening.

Once we understand what’s important to them, we can share our own experiences and build trust. As Greever highlights, “Our job as articulate designers is to recognize just enough of that reality so that we can talk to the people that we work with in a way that pushes past all the extra distractions and gets down to the core thing we need to know to be successful." When we take the time to listen and understand what drives the decisions made by others, we unlock the why behind top-down choices, which helps us move forward together.

By focusing on the right questions, we can uncover the motivations that guide stakeholders' reactions. This allows us to bridge the gap between design thinking and the realities of the team, ultimately creating better communication and stronger support for our ideas.

Sale your WHY

In the early stages of the design process, we’re often working with a lot of guesses. That’s why research is so crucial—it brings the facts that guide us toward the right solution. But here’s a question: Are you able to defend why your solution, process, or idea is better than another? As designers, we know there are many ways to reach the same goal. That’s why it’s essential to explore options. Create wireframes, perform desk research, and gather relevant data from past solutions or other departments. These inputs will help you build a strong case for your choices and answer critical questions about your work. Sometimes, even something as simple as post-its on your drafts can help you keep track of how you arrived at your solution.

A successful design conversation should address three main questions:

• What problem does it solve?
• How does it affect the user?
• Why is this better than the alternative?

Personally, I’d add a fourth:

• Which solution aligns best with the business goals?

Answering these questions doesn’t just make us better communicators—it prepares us to have more meaningful and productive conversations about design. These are the kinds of discussions that earn trust, build consensus, and ultimately make our work stronger.

Of course, it’s easy to say all of this in theory. Putting it into practice is the real challenge. But I believe that once we understand the importance of expressing and defending our design choices logically and clearly, we’ll create more productive meetings, foster better collaboration, and have the power to truly influence decisions.

I hope this reflection helps someone out there as much as it helped me. :)