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I’ve seen this story play out way too many times in my career.

A designer spends tons of time:

• Doing user research
• Doing competitive research
• Running workshops with stakeholders
• Creating wireframes
• Creating mockups
• Creating prototypes
• Following best practices
• Collaborating with a PM

…only to present their design and have it shot down by a powerful stakeholder for an unforeseen reason.

Ouch.

Let’s see if we can avoid that. 

Lack of audience insight is the biggest reason storytelling fails

Audience insight is what you know about the people you’re presenting your design to.

Stakeholders, hiring managers (or teams), and recruiters.

What are their…

• Goals?
• Challenges?
• Ways of communicating?
• Preferences for reviewing design?

Doing UX storytelling without audience insight is like designing a product without user or business insight.

It’s most likely not going to turn out well for the designer. 

In his famous book Articulating Design Decisions (referral link), Tom Greever drops this truth bomb about stakeholders:

“We need to see the world through the eyes of the people who have influence over our project. We have to get in their heads, find out what makes them tick, and use this information to help us approach them in a way that’s productive and valuable for everyone.

What’s ironic to me is that UXers are so good at putting the user first, at garnering empathy for and attempting to see the interface from the perspective of the user. Yet, we often fail to do the same thing for the people who hold the keys to our success.”

—Tom Greever

How to build your audience insight for presentations at work

Stakeholders are just as crucial to our design process as users.

Why?

Because without the buy-in or approval of key stakeholders, all that great design work in your Figma file may never see the light of day.

I want to repeat that because it’s something that takes a while to really sink in.

For better or worse, stakeholder buy-in is necessary for your design to make its way into the world. 

That's where your design can actually help users and get business results.

So how do we build up our audience insight at work?

Here are 4 ideas:

1. Observe meetings before you present at them

How do other designers present their work? What’s the feedback? What questions does the audience ask? What works? What doesn’t? How would you improve what you saw?

2. Network with peers who know the audience better than you

This is particularly helpful when you’re presenting for the first time to an important stakeholder you’ve never interacted with before. Meet with other designers who have. Buy them a coffee and learn everything you can.

3. Stakeholder interviews 

This is my favorite way to build audience insight but it’s not always possible. Stakeholder interviews are typically done during discovery for a new project. Use what you learn to inform your storytelling anytime the stakeholder is in your audience.

You’re looking for: Problems, pains, goals, priorities, and what language they use.

4. Osmosis

Pay attention to what’s happening around you and be a sponge. Soak up everything you can about the culture—and use it to improve your storytelling. 

Audience insight for your job search

Let’s talk about two key areas where storytelling comes into play during a job search:

1. Online case studies
2. Portfolio presentations during interviews
   
   

Online case studies

Your online portfolio is a key asset in your job search.

In addition to networking, your CV / resume, and job applications, it’s a crucial part of progressing through the recruiting process or getting client leads.

Assume that the hiring managers visiting your case studies are very crunched for time and are looking for something that stands out to them.

You need to grab their attention in a matter of seconds or they’re gone.

And it’s never been harder (or easier, depending on your mindset) to stand out from the pack.

More than 3 years ago, UX Collective helped us understand why so many case studies look the same to hiring managers. Not much has changed.

The reasons why it’s so hard to stand out are worthy of their own newsletter edition. Or two.

For now, understand that more designers than ever are competing for the attention of hiring managers.

And that hiring managers see a lot of case studies that seem almost exactly the same.

Design your case studies accordingly.

Portfolio Presentations

Portfolio presentations are some of the highest stakes presentations a designer gives in their career.

It’s crucial to understand what the hiring team is looking for. This helps you communicate what a great fit you are for the role.

One way to get audience insight for your portfolio presentation? The interview process itself.

What did you learn from the job description?

What did you learn from phone screens—their questions and your questions?

What did you learn from in person interviews—their questions and your questions?

Another way is by networking with people who already work at the company or in the role you’re interviewing for.

Use everything you learned while networking and moving through the recruitment process to optimize your portfolio presentation for the role.

I hope this helps you understand the importance of audience insight.

And gives you some ideas about how to build yours up.

Helpful links

Karl Mochel gives excellent advice to design mentees about crafting online case studies.

Mitchell Clements provides his take on different levels of case studies—and how you can stand out. My advice? Most designers should go for levels 4 and 5. Especially in today’s market.