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Getting design to be recognised
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I'm a designer new in a workplace where design has been done in an ad hoc way by non-designers working on service software. The culture is one where lots of people 'do design' or have an opinion, but no-one does any research (I'm introducing that as a priority).
I'm struggling to get design recognised (or perhaps acknowledged) as an actual skill set: the culture seems to view all design as a matter of opinion, which means that the most senior person gets their way, and the product doesn't improve.
How can I help my coworkers recognise design as being a specialised skill?
communication company-culture
edited Sep 10 '15 at 19:53
Elysian Fields♦
96.8k46292449
asked Sep 10 '15 at 19:46
Peter
1163
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
I'm a designer new in a workplace where design has been done in an ad hoc way by non-designers working on service software. The culture is one where lots of people 'do design' or have an opinion, but no-one does any research (I'm introducing that as a priority).
I'm struggling to get design recognised (or perhaps acknowledged) as an actual skill set: the culture seems to view all design as a matter of opinion, which means that the most senior person gets their way, and the product doesn't improve.
How can I help my coworkers recognise design as being a specialised skill?
communication company-culture
edited Sep 10 '15 at 19:53
Elysian Fields♦
96.8k46292449
asked Sep 10 '15 at 19:46
Peter
1163
3
Were you specifically hired to make these changes? Do you have the authority to start making workflow changes on such a large scale? If the answer to any of these questions is no you have to realise that there may not be much you can do.
– Lilienthal♦
Sep 10 '15 at 19:57
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
I'm a designer new in a workplace where design has been done in an ad hoc way by non-designers working on service software. The culture is one where lots of people 'do design' or have an opinion, but no-one does any research (I'm introducing that as a priority).
I'm struggling to get design recognised (or perhaps acknowledged) as an actual skill set: the culture seems to view all design as a matter of opinion, which means that the most senior person gets their way, and the product doesn't improve.
How can I help my coworkers recognise design as being a specialised skill?
communication company-culture
edited Sep 10 '15 at 19:53
Elysian Fields♦
96.8k46292449
asked Sep 10 '15 at 19:46
Peter
1163
I'm a designer new in a workplace where design has been done in an ad hoc way by non-designers working on service software. The culture is one where lots of people 'do design' or have an opinion, but no-one does any research (I'm introducing that as a priority).
I'm struggling to get design recognised (or perhaps acknowledged) as an actual skill set: the culture seems to view all design as a matter of opinion, which means that the most senior person gets their way, and the product doesn't improve.
How can I help my coworkers recognise design as being a specialised skill?
communication company-culture
edited Sep 10 '15 at 19:53
Elysian Fields♦
96.8k46292449
asked Sep 10 '15 at 19:46
Peter
1163
edited Sep 10 '15 at 19:53
Elysian Fields♦
96.8k46292449
edited Sep 10 '15 at 19:53
Elysian Fields♦
96.8k46292449
edited Sep 10 '15 at 19:53
Elysian Fields♦
96.8k46292449
96.8k46292449
asked Sep 10 '15 at 19:46
Peter
1163
asked Sep 10 '15 at 19:46
Peter
1163
asked Sep 10 '15 at 19:46
Peter
1163
1163
3
Were you specifically hired to make these changes? Do you have the authority to start making workflow changes on such a large scale? If the answer to any of these questions is no you have to realise that there may not be much you can do.
– Lilienthal♦
Sep 10 '15 at 19:57
suggest improvements |Â
3
Were you specifically hired to make these changes? Do you have the authority to start making workflow changes on such a large scale? If the answer to any of these questions is no you have to realise that there may not be much you can do.
– Lilienthal♦
Sep 10 '15 at 19:57
3
3
Were you specifically hired to make these changes? Do you have the authority to start making workflow changes on such a large scale? If the answer to any of these questions is no you have to realise that there may not be much you can do.
– Lilienthal♦
Sep 10 '15 at 19:57
Were you specifically hired to make these changes? Do you have the authority to start making workflow changes on such a large scale? If the answer to any of these questions is no you have to realise that there may not be much you can do.
– Lilienthal♦
Sep 10 '15 at 19:57
suggest improvements |Â
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
Quantify your results.
Do you work on sales pages? What is your conversion rate (compared to others)?
Or what about having user studies. Do you have any feedback/input from your customers? What are their common concerns? Do your designs address them? What are your user needs - do you have user personas defined? Can you show what their needs are and how your colleagues ad hoc designs don't meet them (but yours do)?
Maybe you can create user surveys. Ask users meaningful information. If you work in design, you know a good user survey is hard. Do you have followup communication for something (sales, returning customers, referrals, etc)? Can you quantify this?
What about timing how long tasks take your users as compared with other designs. Somehow you need to identify a metric you can compare designs against, or else, why does it matter?
Ultimately, people innately skeptical of design are not going to buy the "but it looks nicer!" reason unless it's quantified. This isn't easy but is important. And realistically: if you aren't doing something of the above, their skepticism is valid. Especially if you are "the new guy."
answered Sep 10 '15 at 19:53
Elysian Fields♦
96.8k46292449
suggest improvements |Â
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
Quantify your results.
Do you work on sales pages? What is your conversion rate (compared to others)?
Or what about having user studies. Do you have any feedback/input from your customers? What are their common concerns? Do your designs address them? What are your user needs - do you have user personas defined? Can you show what their needs are and how your colleagues ad hoc designs don't meet them (but yours do)?
Maybe you can create user surveys. Ask users meaningful information. If you work in design, you know a good user survey is hard. Do you have followup communication for something (sales, returning customers, referrals, etc)? Can you quantify this?
What about timing how long tasks take your users as compared with other designs. Somehow you need to identify a metric you can compare designs against, or else, why does it matter?
Ultimately, people innately skeptical of design are not going to buy the "but it looks nicer!" reason unless it's quantified. This isn't easy but is important. And realistically: if you aren't doing something of the above, their skepticism is valid. Especially if you are "the new guy."
answered Sep 10 '15 at 19:53
Elysian Fields♦
96.8k46292449
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
Quantify your results.
Do you work on sales pages? What is your conversion rate (compared to others)?
Or what about having user studies. Do you have any feedback/input from your customers? What are their common concerns? Do your designs address them? What are your user needs - do you have user personas defined? Can you show what their needs are and how your colleagues ad hoc designs don't meet them (but yours do)?
Maybe you can create user surveys. Ask users meaningful information. If you work in design, you know a good user survey is hard. Do you have followup communication for something (sales, returning customers, referrals, etc)? Can you quantify this?
What about timing how long tasks take your users as compared with other designs. Somehow you need to identify a metric you can compare designs against, or else, why does it matter?
Ultimately, people innately skeptical of design are not going to buy the "but it looks nicer!" reason unless it's quantified. This isn't easy but is important. And realistically: if you aren't doing something of the above, their skepticism is valid. Especially if you are "the new guy."
answered Sep 10 '15 at 19:53
Elysian Fields♦
96.8k46292449
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
Quantify your results.
Do you work on sales pages? What is your conversion rate (compared to others)?
Or what about having user studies. Do you have any feedback/input from your customers? What are their common concerns? Do your designs address them? What are your user needs - do you have user personas defined? Can you show what their needs are and how your colleagues ad hoc designs don't meet them (but yours do)?
Maybe you can create user surveys. Ask users meaningful information. If you work in design, you know a good user survey is hard. Do you have followup communication for something (sales, returning customers, referrals, etc)? Can you quantify this?
What about timing how long tasks take your users as compared with other designs. Somehow you need to identify a metric you can compare designs against, or else, why does it matter?
Ultimately, people innately skeptical of design are not going to buy the "but it looks nicer!" reason unless it's quantified. This isn't easy but is important. And realistically: if you aren't doing something of the above, their skepticism is valid. Especially if you are "the new guy."
answered Sep 10 '15 at 19:53
Elysian Fields♦
96.8k46292449
Quantify your results.
Do you work on sales pages? What is your conversion rate (compared to others)?
Or what about having user studies. Do you have any feedback/input from your customers? What are their common concerns? Do your designs address them? What are your user needs - do you have user personas defined? Can you show what their needs are and how your colleagues ad hoc designs don't meet them (but yours do)?
Maybe you can create user surveys. Ask users meaningful information. If you work in design, you know a good user survey is hard. Do you have followup communication for something (sales, returning customers, referrals, etc)? Can you quantify this?
What about timing how long tasks take your users as compared with other designs. Somehow you need to identify a metric you can compare designs against, or else, why does it matter?
Ultimately, people innately skeptical of design are not going to buy the "but it looks nicer!" reason unless it's quantified. This isn't easy but is important. And realistically: if you aren't doing something of the above, their skepticism is valid. Especially if you are "the new guy."
answered Sep 10 '15 at 19:53
Elysian Fields♦
96.8k46292449
edited Sep 10 '15 at 19:58
answered Sep 10 '15 at 19:53
Elysian Fields♦
96.8k46292449
answered Sep 10 '15 at 19:53
Elysian Fields♦
96.8k46292449
answered Sep 10 '15 at 19:53
Elysian Fields♦
96.8k46292449
96.8k46292449
suggest improvements |Â
suggest improvements |Â
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3
Were you specifically hired to make these changes? Do you have the authority to start making workflow changes on such a large scale? If the answer to any of these questions is no you have to realise that there may not be much you can do.
– Lilienthal♦
Sep 10 '15 at 19:57