This book is for designers at any level that wants to learn practical tactics for articulating designs to stakeholders who may be less knowledgeable about design.

Brainstorming is a pivotal part of a design process where different ideas and thoughts from the team members are collected to arrive at the most optimum solution to the design challenges. Greever also goes over ways in which to optimize your meeting for retention including primacy and recency (people remember the first and last thing you say to them), surprise, and plain old repetition. I loved the examples he gives and the frameworks for better breaking down all the steps to having these complex conversations time and time again.This unified effort unleashes the full potential of the design team, paving the way for unparalleled creativity, and innovative ideas. However I do find myself more mindful when I attend meetings or discuss my solutions with an engineer. Tom packed a lot into an hour, somehow balanced speaking with questions and exercises, and we all took away some great exercise templates.

With good communication and evidence to support our decisions, we turn challenging situations into opportune scenarios for emphasizing our expertise and building strong relationships with clients. Articulating Design Decisions” has quickly become one of my favorite design books that I’ve read during my career. How many times has someone come into a project half way through and asked questions that have already been answered, derailing the meeting and forcing you to ‘catch them up’ on the last three months of conversation in a one hour session? The creative problem-solving approach enhances the quality of the final design and gives the design team an upper hand over their competitors.

Something else that I’ve come to learn from interviews and usability tests is to repeat the statements people are saying right back to them in the form of “What I hear you saying…” and rephrasing it in a way that moves the conversation forward. As a product owner I value business goals and want to know how this is solving the business problem, so I should ensure that I outline how this solution will achieve that. As such we understand the challenges in getting everyone on the same page and the need for articulating design decisions well.

One of my peers was talking about how the engineers working on her team were uninspired by her designs and frequently asked questions about them until she mocked up the long-term vision. Articulating design decisions is a key soft skill for designers that fosters understanding, trust, and successful partnerships in the design process. This is a great skill for every designer to have, and it will go a long way toward helping you be articulate with stakeholders.

I hope this little blurb helps you in whatever conversation you are prepping for or encourages you to get a hold of the book itself. It helps them better align their design decisions with business goals and ensure every design decision serves a business purpose. Yet as Tom pointed out note-taking isn’t documentation, it’s just a collection of unorganised thoughts or ideas.