While seeing is believing, so is a solid presentation of your case.
This week we learned about generating a design deliverable document that can be shared with stakeholders to provide an update on the project, that conveys the following:
Where we have been?
What we have changed?
Why we have changed it
Where we are going, and why?
It is the opportunity to provide both insight and justification to all decisions made during the life of the current project. The user experience design and research conducted has provided data-driven and behavior-driven decisions, that have been documented and incorporated into the current state of the product.
“If your usability sessions revealed that there are significant flaws in the design, you will have to be careful in your approach to communicating the results. One technique that will help you is to position the results in terms of the value to the team. That is, by learning what you’ve learned now, you’re avoiding the risk of releasing a flawed design, and now have time to address the issues before release.”
— Kent State UXD Presentation
A clear presentation that reinforces the values of the stakeholders and goals of the project is important to show you have not only understood their mission, but incorporated it into your research.
Hindsight may be 20/20, but research done well, can prevent the need to use this saying during a project that incorporates UX. Proper research can also potentially prevent spending unnecessary dollars, dealing with unsatisfied users, extended timelines, and so forth — that is, if the issues are caught in time during the UX process.