How To Use Storytelling In Design Critiques

This is how you lose a room of stakeholders when you present: “On this screen I used a list view, with a search box & filters on top.” Do this instead: “System admins struggle to find specific users so they can change their permissions. They’re in a rush and it’s a needle in a haystack: 50% of our customers have more than 10,000 users in their system. We’re going to keep missing our SUS score goal without a fix here. This issue brought our scores down below 80 for the first time in a year. This new search and filter design makes it twice as fast to narrow down—and the list view now shows enough data to confirm they’ve found the right user without clicking into the detail sheet”. Boom 🎉 In the first example the designer describes the interface to us. In the second they tell a story. Stop describing UI and features to stakeholders. Start telling a story to help them understand why the design is good. For better products and better design reviews focus on outcomes. Not outputs.

Design metrics guide designers to tell better stories. Perhaps paradoxically, a data-informed process makes designers better storytellers. Engaging an audience, especially in business, takes years to master, as stakeholders can be critical. However, staying focused on the value created during the process keeps stakeholders engaged and more forgiving of presentation issues. While presentation is essential, it's the use of concrete measurements to explain decisions that genuinely builds trust and credibility. Why? Using metrics in design critiques builds trust by making the process transparent and relatable. It provides measurable impact, showing how good design influences actions and economic outcomes. Additionally, it forces simplicity and clarity, allowing designers to communicate effectively with short, impactful, easily understood sentences. Here’s the surprising part. Even poor results can help create a compelling story. Using metrics allows designers to find value even when making poor decisions. Benchmarking these decisions helps everyone learn from potential problems and guides designers to better solutions. Once designers see their role as guiding the team to better outcomes rather than creating perfect solutions, storytelling can help bring everyone along in the design process. Using data in continuous research and iterative design can be complex, but it boils down to two main points in a presentation: 1. Hunch: How will a design concept improve the user experience and business results? We call this a hunch. 2. Measurement: How does a concept perform compared to other iterations? We use UX metrics as leading indicators. ↓ In our design process, we use rapid iteration to capture UX metrics using Helio. Here’s an example: → Point 1: How will a design concept improve the user experience and business results? Redesigning a university’s degree page with a guide and better search functionality can enhance user experience and increase successful applications. This hunch sets a clear focus for the presentation on expected positive outcomes. → Point 2: How does a concept perform compared to other iterations? Multiple versions of the registration page are tested for user satisfaction and task completion rates. Using Helio for rapid testing helps identify the best design, adding credibility to the presentation by showcasing data-informed decisions and measurable improvements. Combining these points into a cohesive narrative helps our design team tell a compelling story. This builds confidence in the process and demonstrates the tangible benefits and data-informed decisions that lead to a better user experience.

Most UX designers don’t fail because of bad design. They fail because they can’t tell a compelling story about their work. The best designers don’t just create great work. They make people *care* about it. If you want buy-in for your ideas, these 3 storytelling techniques will set you apart: 1. Start with the outcome, not the process Executives and stakeholders don’t want a step-by-step breakdown of your Figma layers. They want to know what impact your design had. - Did conversions increase? - Did support tickets go down? - Did users engage more? Lead with results, *then* explain how you got there. 2. Make your audience the hero, not yourself Your story isn’t about how great your design is—it’s about the people it helps. Frame your work around the users and their challenges. Show how your design changed their experience, not just how clever your solution was. 3. Create contrast between “before” and “after” People don’t appreciate solutions unless they understand the problem. Show them how bad things were before your design existed, and how much better they are now. That’s how you make your work unforgettable. Your designs won’t speak for themselves. It’s your job to make them *impossible to ignore.* Which of these do you already use? ✌️