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 5 & 6 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 5: Get in the Right Mindset

• Understanding Your Role: Greever emphasizes the importance of recognizing your role in design conversations. How can acknowledging that you're part of a collaborative process, rather than solely defending your designs, influence the outcome of stakeholder interactions?
• Managing Ego and Control: The chapter discusses the necessity of checking your ego and relinquishing absolute control over design outcomes. Can you recall a situation where adopting this mindset led to a more productive discussion or better design solution?
• Leading with a "Yes": Greever suggests starting responses with affirmation to foster collaboration. How might this approach change the dynamics of a meeting where your design is being challenged?

Chapter 6: Form a Response

• Structuring Responses: The chapter outlines strategies for responding to stakeholder feedback, such as appealing to shared goals and focusing on user impact. How can structuring your responses in this way help in gaining stakeholder buy-in?
• Tactical Approaches: Greever presents tactics like showing comparisons, proposing alternatives, and involving allies. Which of these tactics have you found most effective in your experience, and why?
• Handling Derailing Suggestions: The chapter advises on managing feedback that could derail meetings by backlogging ideas or postponing decisions. How can these techniques maintain focus during discussions and ensure that critical design decisions are made effectively?

About The Book Club

Our book club is super casual and designed to provide a space to learn and share our experiences, ideas, and questions about the UX world! Join us even if you don't have a chance to read the chapters! The conversations are light yet insightful, and this book is a quick read!

Be sure to download Microsoft Teams to be able to participate fully!

We hope to see you there! 📚

About The Book

• Book: Articulating Design Decisions: Communicate with Stakeholders, Keep Your Sanity, and Deliver the Best User Experience (2nd edition) by Tom Greever

• Synopsis: Articulating Design Decisions by Tom Greever teaches designers how to effectively communicate the reasoning behind their design choices to stakeholders, ensuring that their work is understood and supported. The book provides practical strategies for presenting designs, handling feedback, and building trust with non-designers, ultimately helping designers advocate for better user experiences.

• Good Reads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25520974-articulating-design-decisions 

• Grab a copy here: https://amzn.to/3FdQTsN (affiliate link)