As designers, we like to believe that great work speaks for itself. But here’s the truth: it rarely does. I’ve seen brilliant design solutions die in meetings simply because they weren’t communicated the right way. And I’ve seen mediocre ones win approval because they were framed in the language of business goals and stakeholder priorities.

Communication isn’t a soft skill … it’s a design tool. And mastering it can make the difference between your ideas getting approved or ignored.

Understand the Stakeholder Landscape

Start by mapping the room. Who’s in it, and what do they care about?

An engineering lead might care about feasibility and velocity. A product owner’s focused on roadmap alignment. A marketing exec is thinking about brand and messaging. The CFO wants to know how this impacts the bottom line.

You can’t deliver a one-size-fits-all pitch. Good communication starts with empathy … the same skill we use for users applies to stakeholders, too.

Translate Design into Business Value

Here’s the mistake I made early in my career: I’d talk about “delight,” “elegance,” or “flow.” Stakeholders would nod politely, then move on.

What changed? I started translating design decisions into things they cared about:

• “This change will reduce drop-off in our sign-up funnel by X%.”
• “This pattern aligns with our accessibility strategy and reduces legal risk.”
• “By reusing this component, we’ll save engineering time across three other features.”

It’s not about dumbing things down, it’s about speaking a shared language.

Build Trust Through Process Transparency

Design can feel like a black box to people outside of it. To get buy-in, you have to open that box.

Let them see your thinking, show the research, walk through why one approach was chosen over another. But don’t just present … narrate. Bring people along on the journey.

Transparency builds trust. And when people trust the process, they’re more likely to trust the outcome.

Invite, Don’t Defend

One of the biggest mindset shifts I had to make was moving from “defending” my designs to “inviting” feedback.

When you frame a design as a prototype, not a final product, people engage more openly. When you treat feedback as collaboration, not criticism, stakeholders become allies.

That doesn’t mean you accept every suggestion … it means you listen, clarify the “why” behind their concern, and respond thoughtfully. Sometimes that means pushing back. But even pushback can be collaborative.

Use Visuals to Sell, Not Just Show

A mockup is a great artifact, but a story is what sells.

Don’t just show a new screen … walk people through the user journey. Use comparisons: here’s what we had, here’s what we’re proposing, here’s the impact.

When possible, show it in context, motion, interaction, mobile vs desktop, edge cases, etc. Paint the picture of how it works in the real world, not just on a slide.

Wrapping Up

You don’t have to be a salesperson. But you do have to be a translator, a guide, and sometimes a bit of a diplomat.

Good design solves problems. Great design solves them and gets people on board.

I'd love to hear about your thoughts, connect with me on LinkedIn and let's chat.

Until the next volume, thanks for joining me. 
Andrew Preble