Navigating choppy waters

A presentation at Webconf.asia in June 2018 in Hong Kong by David Wieland

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Navigating choppy waters Words by David Wieland Graphics by Chelsea Ng

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@davidwieland Clients are people too — they need love like everyone else Navigating choppy waters

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@davidwieland Explaining design to non-designers is an underrated skill Navigating choppy waters

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@davidwieland We b d e s i g n i s p e o p l e
all the way down Navigating choppy waters

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@davidwieland Tussling with strangers Navigating choppy waters

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@davidwieland I heard you guys like frameworks Navigating choppy waters

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Setting sail Navigating choppy waters

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  1. Assembling the crew Navigating choppy waters
  2. The calm before the storm
  3. Navigating choppy waters
  4. Disembarking

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Assembling the crew Navigating choppy waters “Seamen learn to get to know each other during a storm.”

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@davidwieland Why is my client not compatible with my methods? Assembling the crew

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Because— Clients aren’t trained to think or work like designers! Assembling the crew

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@davidwieland Show and tell each other how you do your work! Stay vigilant! Why is my client not compatible with my methods? Assembling the crew

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@davidwieland Spotting 
 red flags Assembling the crew

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S POTTING

RED

FLAGS “We don’t really have a budget, that’s why we’re asking you.” Try fishing for one! → Captain’s tip!

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S POTTING

RED

FLAGS “We need a fixed price, but some stuff isn’t final yet.” Something’s 
 gotta give, kid! → Jennifer Nopez!

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S POTTING

RED

FLAGS “This project 
 must be launched 
 by DD-MM-YY.” Avoid fixed deadlines! → Try this!

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S POTTING

RED

FLAGS “You won’t be in contact with decision makers. ” Hope you like playing Chinese Whispers ! → That’s dumb!

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S POTTING

RED

FLAGS “Our management wants to see an upfront design.” → So you want us to design your website before we design your website? That’s cute!

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“Our management wants to see an upfront design.” In a design pitch, no one wins J ARIJN N IJKAMP 
 →

http://bit.ly/grayscale_pitch Share this with your client! Assembling the crew

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@davidwieland Spotting 
 red flags Assembling the crew Saying “No” 
 is always an option. Remember, kids!

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@davidwieland Unmasking shadow stakeholders Assembling the crew

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Who can terminate the project? Who are the loose cannons? Any signs of internal turbulence? U NMASKING

SHADOW

STAKEHOLDERS

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@davidwieland Unmasking shadow stakeholders Assembling the crew Tell horror stories of what happens when you don’t involve management Try this!

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The calm 
 before the storm Navigating choppy waters When the sea is calm, every ship has a good captain.

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@davidwieland Accept what you don’t know The calm 
 before the storm

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@davidwieland Accept what you don’t know The calm 
 before the storm Determine if your client can drive the project for you Try this!

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@davidwieland When things are going too well The calm 
 before the storm

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@davidwieland The calm 
 before the storm Projects risk total collapse during a feign lull Stay vigilant! When things are going too well

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@davidwieland Taking criticism The calm 
 before the storm

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“When facing criticism, stop and ask yourself: Is this helpful or not helpful?”


 — Chappell Ellison http://bit.ly/chappell_criticism

T AKING

CRITICISM

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“Looks like something my kids bring home from school.” “I can’t relate to what you’re giving us.” Not helpful Helpful T RANSLATING

CRITICISM

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“I just don’t like it.” “I’m missing something, but 
 I don’t know how to tell you.” Not helpful Helpful T RANSLATING

CRITICISM

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“It’s very… interesting.” “Boy, this is a huge departure and I need some time to process this.” Not helpful Helpful T RANSLATING

CRITICISM

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@davidwieland Everything is going great — until it isn’t The calm 
 before the storm

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There’s a set of rules we live by. 
 Rule One is simply: 
 “Don’t adopt anxiety.” 
 — Mike Monteiro →

http://bit.ly/mike_anxiety W HEN

THINGS

GO

HORRIBLY

WRONG

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H ANDLING

ANXIOUS

CLIENTS Take a deep breath Don’t get defensive Listen carefully Don’t assign blame Say you’ll look into it Don’t promise anything else
Discuss with your team

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Navigating choppy waters Hope for the best, 
 but prepare for the worst. Navigating choppy waters

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@davidwieland Handling progressive insight Navigating choppy waters

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L IST

OF

PLACES

WE ’ VE

ALL

BEEN

TO

BEFORE “Now that I look at it again…” “Could you try something totally different?” “Our marketing team wants…” “We should use our corporate font though.”

“I thought that…?” “I asked my wife/neighbor/cat and they said…”

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@davidwieland Document everything Navigating choppy waters

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@davidwieland Document everything Navigating choppy waters Keep written records of any decision a client might backtrack on. If only to make sure you’re not insane

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Remember kids— the difference between screwing around and science is writing it down. 
 — Adam Savage D OCUMENT

EVERYTHING

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@davidwieland Too many captains will sink any ship Navigating choppy waters

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Yo u’ r e r e p o r t i n g t o s e v e r a l
departments and they directly contradict each other 
 !

T HAT

FEELING

WHEN

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They swoop in,

make a lot of noise,

crap on people , maybe eat their lunch,

and fly away. 
 — James unter S EAGULL M ANAGER H

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@davidwieland Design mutiny Navigating choppy waters

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D ESIGN

MUTINY When your client takes matters in their own hands

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Imma let you finish, but this is what we came up with so why don’t you try and work with that W HEN

THEY

BE

LIKE

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@davidwieland Design mutiny Navigating choppy waters Could be indicative you’ve completely misread them Watch out!

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@davidwieland Revolving door stakeholders Navigating choppy waters

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R EVOLVING

DOOR

STAKEHOLDERS What begins as a website project, often ends up as a corporate restructuring Ancient Chinese proverb

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F LASH

BACK !!

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F LASH

BACK !!

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Review current blockers

Reassess project goals Reassign individual responsibilities

Suspend the project I NTERVENTION

TIME !

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Being a pawn in your political tug-of-war is a) mentally exhausting 
 and b) imminently detrimental to your project quality, 
 so either cut this energy-draining bullshit, or we’re walking away I NTERVENTION

TIME : N UCLEAR E DITION !

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Disembarking After the ship has sunk, everyone knows how she might have been saved. Navigating choppy waters

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@davidwieland When it doesn’t look as advertised Disembarking

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@davidwieland When it doesn’t look as advertised Disembarking Uh-oh! Someone clearly fudged it! From design mockup to actual website is a huge step and requires strict coordination

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@davidwieland Demystifying User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Disembarking

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All teams agree what to test for Yo u t r e a t UAT a s a p u b l i c a t i o n d e a d l i n e
Client reports issues systematically There’s still time to address the issues Y OU ’ RE

DOING UAT RIGHT

WHEN

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@davidwieland Parting ways Disembarking

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T HANK

YOU ! Don’t adopt other people’s anxiety 
 http://bit.ly/mike_anxiety Giving and taking criticism 
 http://bit.ly/chappell_criticism What are Design Ops and why should you care? 
 http://bit.ly/dave_designops In a design pitch, no one wins 
 http://bit.ly/grayscale_pitch