Warm Gun: Moving the Needle

by November 22, 2013

In her presentation at the Warm Gun Conference in San Francisco CA, Kaaren Hanson shared how designers can work with executives. Here are my notes from her talk:

  • All executives today get that design is important but most don't "get" design.
  • Executives want you to bring energy into the room, not suck the air out.
  • How do you describe design? It's hard. You have to feel it.
  • Don't bring them an experience you like, ask them what experiences where great for them? To get them to focus on how things make you feel. Focus on emotion.
  • Intuit had their executives do a scavanger hunt using their mobile devices.
  • Once executives get design, they don't know what to do with it. But they won't admit this. You have to help them figure out what to do.
  • Executives love measures. They are rewarded when things are concrete, measurable, and less ambiguous.
  • Use data to make your case.
  • Lessons learned: create visceral experiences so people feel the importance of design. Once you get their hearts, they are willing to help.
  • Give executives a job. Tell them what they can do to help you. What they decide to do on their own might not help you.
  • Lean in to the metrics.