Grab your favorite drink and join us for The UX Book Club in partnership with IxDF Dallas! In our upcoming meeting, we'll dive into chapters 1 & 2 of Articulating Design Decisions by Tom Greever.

Don’t worry if you haven't finished both chapters—come anyway! It's an excellent opportunity to learn and share experiences with our community!

Sneak Peek of This Week's Book Club Meeting

Chapter 1: Great Designers Are Great Communicators

• Designers as Communicators: Greever argues that communication is just as important as design skills. Can you think of a situation where your ability (or inability) to communicate your design decisions impacted the outcome of a project? What could you have done differently?

• The "Why" Behind Your Design: Greever emphasizes the importance of explaining the rationale behind your design choices. How do you typically explain the reasoning behind your designs, and how might you improve this process to better engage stakeholders?

• The Power of Persuasion: This chapter discusses how the best ideas don’t always win, but the most persuasive communicator often does. How do you balance staying true to your design vision with the need to persuade stakeholders to support it?

Chapter 2: Stakeholders Are People Too

• Empathy and Understanding: Greever suggests that understanding stakeholders’ perspectives is crucial for effective communication. How can you actively listen to and engage with stakeholders to better understand their needs and concerns? Can you think of a past project where this approach might have improved the outcome?

• Building Rapport: Greever mentions that building rapport with stakeholders helps to create trust. What are some practical ways you can build rapport with stakeholders in a project, especially when working with individuals from different backgrounds or departments?

• Tailoring Communication: In this chapter, the author emphasizes tailoring your message to different stakeholders. How would you adjust your design rationale when presenting to a CEO versus a developer, and why is this differentiation important?