Slides from my talk at http://2015.nuxconf.uk. Manchester, UK, October 2015. Synopsis Have you ever heard of Clients from Hell – the website that cites hellish stories designers collect over a lifetime of working with clients? If you haven’t, many of the situations described on the site won’t be foreign to you: clients who believe theirs is the only opinion that matters, who tell you which colors to use and ask to “make the logo bigger,” and who just don’t seem to get their head around what UX truly means. Clients being difficult is a well-known cliche in the design world. There’s another side to all this: clients are also people who are deeply embedded within organizations we can help with our proficiency in design-thinking and user-centered design. They know their jobs, customers, and organizations so well that if we could just see eye to eye, we could make real impact together. In her talk, Jenny will explore some insights from over a decade of working with clients. She will share practical examples of hands-on methods to explain, teach, and inspire user-centered thinking in clients who “just don’t get it.”

1. Clients don't suck
EVGENIA (JENNY) GRINBLO / #NUX4

2. The client-as-a-nightmare
cliché
@GRINBLO #NUX4INTRODUCTION / ON CLIENTS
CLIENTSFROMHELL.NET

3. This is serious business
@GRINBLO #NUX4INTRODUCTION / ON CLIENTS

4. The ideal scenario
Our
expertise
Our clients’
expertise
@GRINBLO #NUX4INTRODUCTION / ON CLIENTS

5. ? ? ?
? ??
? ??

6. Pick one method
to try for yourself
BUT FIRST, SOME HOMEWORK:
@GRINBLO #NUX4INTRODUCTION / ON CLIENTS

7. Prevention is the
best medicine
@GRINBLO #NUX4INTRODUCTION / ON CLIENTS
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlireland/

8. Condition #1
Image from page 218 of "Rider's Washington; a guide book for travelers, with 3 maps and 22 plans" (1922)

9. Symptoms Reasons
Repeating the same
process and tool they’re
used to using in another
context
“I am the user”
Opinions drive design decisions
Stakeholders disagree
Surprise features
CONDITION 1 @GRINBLO #NUX4

10. Shift the conversation from ‘making
decisions’ to designing for real people
Try this
CONDITION 1 @GRINBLO #NUX4

11. Guerrilla user
testing
Put assumptions
about users on
paper
Bring users’
voices into the
boardroom

12. Grandfather Telling a Story
Albert Anker (1884)
Bring users’
voices into the
boardroom

13. Guerrilla user
testing
Put assumptions
about users on paper
Grandfather Telling a Story
Albert Anker (1884)
My biggest
complaint
coming to an
event like this…
Bring users’
voices into the
boardroom

14. Bring users’
voices into the
boardroom
Guerrilla user
testing
Put assumptions
about users on
paper

15. Bring them closer
to the user research
CUSTOMER PROFILE
VOLUNTEERS
GAINS
PAINS
Put assumptions
about users on
paper
Method source: Value Proposition Design
by Strategyzer

16. Give users a seat in the
boardroom
CONDITION 1 @GRINBLO #NUX4

17. Condition #2
Image from page 976 of "Dr. Evans' How to keep well;" (1917)

18. Symptoms Reasons
Comfortable with how
but not with what or why
Spending time on details right away
Big portions of budget spent on
small “wow elements”
Not being able to summarize the
product or who it’s for
CONDITION 2 @GRINBLO #NUX4

19. Zoom out of the detail
and the interface
Try this
CONDITION 2 @GRINBLO #NUX4

20. Storyboard Ruthless
prioritization
Which business
goal is this for?

21. https://www.ted.com/talks/mick_mountz_the_hidden_world_of_box_packing#t-186129
MICK MOUNTZ (TED) / What happens inside those massive warehouses?
CONDITION 2 @GRINBLO #NUX4

22. CONDITION 2 @GRINBLO #NUX4

23. Storyboard Ruthless
prioritization
Which business
goal is this for?

24. Ruthless
prioritization
Feature 78
Feature 92
Feature 203
Feature 78
Feature 31
Feature 3
Feature 92

25. Storyboard Ruthless
prioritization
Which business
goal is this for?

26. Refer to tangible things that
show the vision for the product
CONDITION 2 @GRINBLO #NUX4
Image from page 456 of "Practical physics" (1922)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/

27. Condition #3
Image taken from page 394 of 'Memoirs of Bartholomew Fair ... Fourth edition'

28. Symptoms Reasons
Confusion about the
value of UX and what we
can do to help
“Can you just spruce this up?”
Asking for a high-fidelity design to
communicate an idea
Involving UX last
CONDITION 3

29. Empower your clients to
participate, not just judge
Try this

30. Clients aren't there with you, so they
only see the last step in a long chain
of thinking
Ask difficult
questions
Expose your
decision-making
Scare them

31. Ask difficult
questions
Expose your
decision-making
How will you
know if the project
is successful?
How will this
app make
money?
What kind of
customer is most
important to your
business and why?
Scare them

32. Ask difficult
questions
Expose your
decision-making
How will you
know if the project
is successful?
How will this
app make
money?
What kind of
customer is most
important to your
business and why?
Scare them

33. Talk to me in
benefits
CONDITION 3 / EXAMPLE
Back Article Bookmark
Can you read this? Doctor
with 'world's messiest
handwriting' baffles patient
Read the PDF
E-mail me the PDF
he handwriting of doctors and teachers
has long since been ridiculed by the rest
of the working world.
But some doctors are worse than others,
as this incredible image shared on Imgur
shows.
In a post entitled: " Why your prescription
isn't ready in 15 minutes ", there appear to
be a series of squiggles and bumps more
resembling a heart monitor's output than
actual written english
Benefit
Benefit

34. Clients aren't there with you, so they
only see the last step in a long chain
of thinking
Ask difficult
questions
Expose your
decision-making
Scare them

35. Explain the consequences of getting
UX right in your client’s terms
CONDITION 3 / EXAMPLE
1/5 of apps are
abandoned after
1 use
Re-working
code = x100
the cost
15% of software
projects are
abandoned
The ROI of User Experience http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O94kYyzqvTc
http://info.localytics.com/blog/app-retention-improves

36. Storyboard Ruthless prioritization Which business goal is
this for?
Ask difficult
questions
Scare them
(educate about value / risks
of UX work)
Expose your decision-
making
Bring user voices into
the boardroom Guerrilla user testing Put assumptions about
users on paper

37. Create your diagonosis
and methods toolkit
CONCLUSION / LAST WORDS

38. Client dragging
you down
My Work
Client propping
you up
Client knowledge,
expertise, support
Ideas we
create together
My work
+
+
vs.
My work’s potential in
a world with no clients
CONCLUSION / LAST WORDS

39. My reminder that
my work isn’t just
on screens >
CONCLUSION / LAST WORDS

40. @grinblo
jenny@futureworkshops.com
(+Send me your homework)
Thank you! :)