Embrace Experiments: Not a designer? Me either. Here’s how I make compelling visuals and prototypes.
Full disclosure. This post runs counter to how I once felt about (my role in) prototyping. When trying to set the right direction and even sell a big idea, I’ve often struggled to get started. And while in theory I know a prototype is a great tool to have in your arsenal, in my mind it’s something that other people like creatives, techies and “inventors” do. Not me. I (used to) think of myself as project manager/leader/kitchen sink-type (more on that in another blog) who didn’t want to stray too from my lane for fear of offending the creatives. I mean designers make everything look ah-ma-zing (and I really mean that). I didn’t want to be an imposter. But the reality is I’ve been prototyping my whole career. I just didn’t own it.
I started to more formally appreciate this when I was in a role where I was given technical requirements documents— or worse— asked to write them. I would look at these documents and not understand a word they said. I just couldn’t translate the words into anything that made any sense in my mind. I felt dumb because I would read them and not retain a word. Thank goodness I landed a role on a UX team. And my boss at the time Jon Stinson expected all of us—even non-designers—to build compelling visual wireframes and prototypes to bring the pages to life and even test out ideas.
I got to learn how to use a prototyping tool and I loved it. Me and iRise were tight. And because I was fancy and flexible I could also bang out ideas in Visio or even ppt with a little help from Snagit. Sometimes I would whiteboard or grab some post it notes. You get the picture. It was cobbled together, smoke and mirrors. And yet in building the visuals, I often made something that felt real to me, and then was able to see a bigger idea within it and come up with even better functions and experiences. Not only that, I gained confidence because I created a visual that I could then sell the heck out of.
But I didn't stop there. I wanted to expand my visual storytelling beyond the confines of prototypes. I became intentional in my communications. You see, through the process of prototyping, I realized I was really trying to use compelling visuals to get across not only the message, but engage my audience. And this shift focused me on the users, clients, customers, and audience I was trying to connect with. And at a certain point, visuals became my everything. Yes I mean PowerPoint. But I also used Prezi, Keynote, and even infographics.
One of my proudest moments was when I discovered Prezi, and then personally worked on a stunning presentation (self-taught and created!) for my boss at the time David Lessing. He was presenting to 1000+ people. Many had never seen a Prezi before and his message landed very powerfully. It helped a lot that he is such a talented presenter, and in collaborating on the visuals for the tool, it helped hone and focus the anchors and takeaways for his talk. In retrospect, creating and iterating on the Prezi was a form of prototyping for his messaging, themes and platform.
I challenge myself to make sure every visual story is more engaging than the last. My secret weapon? Templates. I treat myself to a new template at places like Creative Market as a gift to myself to begin brainstorming and setting up the narrative, pitch, or even requirements document.
I am in the process of starting up a new program, and I immediately started with visual storytelling. First, I treated myself to a cool template for some inspiration. Then I started framing out the business plan. But I realized I was still missing key elements on the longer range vision and impact. So I created an actual prototype for what experience would be for the person we were trying to serve. But this time I just popped into Squarespace and created a mock-up site for the end user experience we were trying to build. I put myself in the shoes of the customer and literally built it out in less than an hour. This is completely mind blowing to me. It looks SOOOOO good. Not only is it so easy to do, but it clicked that in mapping it out, I was able to work through ideas and refine our approach as we scoped out projects and work plan. It will also serve as a place where I can show other people a clickable model for what this all can be.
My takeaway? I am in awe of good design. And I am grateful that designers have made so many templates available so that laypeople like me can use them and create a powerful experience to use in connecting with my end users. There are huge benefits to thinking about your work visually, as a way to connect, as having key outcomes, and driving impact. Don't limit yourself (like I did) with excuses like you're "not technical" or "not creative" as a reason avoid trying this approach. The resources out there today make it so easy to create something stunning. Enjoy! What creative resources do you use? I'd love to hear more!
