Marvel Article : Tips to Helping Stakeholders Understand Prototypes

Hi, there. You can read this on Marvel. The kind folks over there let me guest write a post. It’s what we use at Everfest for prototyping and product collaboration.

As designers, we typically pick up new software pretty quickly. Often due to most of our days being spent working in it. Technical software like Lightroom, Photoshop, Sketch or even text editors like Atom become normal to us. Thus, when we use incorporate simplified prototypes, we could never expect there being confusion in using it.

Yet, there can be.

It’s important not to project our familiarity with software onto others–especially, stakeholders. From small startup CEO’s to the founder of a global fashion brand, I’ve seen people stumble through prototypes. It has nothing to do with their position or knowledge. What matters is that hiccups imprint themselves on the brain of someone you need approval from to move forward. For example: you go to a new restaurant. You wait a while to get seated. Your server forgets to refill your water. You start to get hungry and your order hasn’t been taken. They’re playing Barbara Streisand classics a little too loud. Finally, you get your dish. It’s delicious, yes, but you feel like the experience was a let down. The product didn’t exempt the errors of the service. Each imperfection was a dash on a board that was tallied up at the end of the experience. It is up to the designer to minimize those marks.

No matter how perfect a user flow seems, there’s always a bit of barrier to entry on learning a new tool. Think of the first time you encountered a new product. Was there a slight moment of intimidation when gazing upon its interface? Think of that and amplify it by ten. Designers are accustomed to new tech. Many aren’t. Clients often just want to stick with what they know. They still love PowerPoint, use Internet Explorer or still rock skeuomorphic iOS 6. They prefer endless email chains to concise Slack conversations. They don’t trust Venmo or Square Cash–only PayPal! I’m generalizing a bit, but you get the point. We are fast adopters of the new and they’re often not.

How can we smooth prototype presentation to stakeholders?

1. Get the snow ball rolling. Show your audience a simple interaction to trigger that “ah, that’s how it works” moment that smashes down any entry barriers. True story: A former creative director I worked with wanted to understand Marvel. We sat down, walked through the front end and back end of a prototype and with each tip, the time needed to understand each lesson minimized. The ability to climb one rung after the other quickened in pace. She was proficient in only a few minutes and became a fan of the tool I was hoping to standardize.
2. Make them feel savvy. Like familiarizing yourself in a new city, you can know your way around without knowing every nook and cranny. You’ve shown how hotspots work, gestures and prototype purpose to help them feel proficient in use. Their empowerment is your empowerment. You win off their ability to feel authoritative in the medium through which you’re presenting. True Story: After showing a simple navigation open interaction for a mobile site, the client was so pleased with how simple the prototype was that she approved the design and was appreciative of how she could easily understand my thinking.
3. Keep the presentation on track. When an interface is in front of someone with vested interest, they will begin tapping away. You’ll be talking about how you access your account page while they’re off looking at an about. Their distraction is ground you have to make back up. True story: I once presented a customization tool to the founder of a company that generates hundreds of millions of dollars a year. I thought sharing the link to those in the room to follow along would be a wise idea. I was wrong. Each person started tapping their way into question after question that I was eventually going to methodically maneuver them through. I spent my time belaying question after question instead of presenting. It wasn’t a matter of “yes, but your design should have been seamless”, it was a matter of presenting ideas–not a final product. Point being: presenters need to steer the ship.
4. Give them a journey. If you want to show a stakeholder a flow, tell them what task to try. For instance, say “try accessing your shopping cart” or “now, navigate back to your profile page”. Giving them a destination allows them to stay in the confines of what you’re trying to explain. This also reinforces their trust that you know what you’re talking about. They see through your eyes how their product should work. Each one of these wins gets you closer to an affirmed approval on your work.
5. Yes, your link magically updates. I’ve made the mistake of saying “Ok, I’ve changed the color of the header. What do you think?” only to receive: “Where’s the updated file?” Uh…check the link? This was due to the failures of tips one and two. I did not convey a basic function of the prototype and added a hiccup to their experience. Bad Andy. The live update of links prohibits nasty email chains. No sending “checkout-flow-version21”. There is only ever one updating version. I will even use prototypes outside of UI/UX for this. I can post, say, 20 pictures to have a user can slide through them simply to reply with which are his or her favorite.
6. Bookmark it! Busy clients are on the go. They don’t want to sift through emails/Slack channels for links you sent. Instruct them on making a bookmark of your link so they can easily access it from their phones when you say “Ok, revisions are up. Let me know what you think.” They’ll appreciate you giving back precious time to them. Everyone else they communicate with won’t have the ability to deliver such an easy experience.
7. Comments! Most prototype apps allow for direct commenting which saves a lot of time for both parties. No need to toggle between Slack and the prototype for them to send feedback. Their thoughts are expressed directly on top of your design. Confusion eliminated. This pairs perfectly with the bookmarked link. A bustling stakeholder can simply tap the bookmark icon and immediately let me know what they think.

It sounds silly to have to explain such simple things like prototypes to stakeholders or even to have to explain how to explain it to them. As I’ve learned, however, the engrained ability of designers to understand visual messages is often not shared with the people needing them. That’s why they’re talking to us in the first place. Anything we can do to help educate them on best practices and tools is a service to our industry.

On a bigger scale, anything you can do to optimize the experience of a client/stakeholder working with you only enriches your value to them. The founder of a bustling startup has a million things to worry about. Don’t be number 1,000,001.