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Design'ers Matter

Take it easy - how to achieve good results in communication and design without too much stress

Long Lecture

🇵🇱 Polish

About

Talking is hard. It can be much easier if you stick to a standard scenario and deliver presentations and projects in a stiff and formal tone. Yet, our work experience indicates that loosening up and having a conversation instead of dry facilitation brings much better results in design (and other kinds of) processes. We will talk about approaching UX design with a smile and an open mind. It's the way to solve even big problems. Listen to our stories and learn lessons for yourself.

Speakers

Photo of Krzysztof Piskorz, Lead UX Designer at TietoEVRY

Krzysztof Piskorz

Lead UX Designer at TietoEVRY

Photo of Wojtek Kutyła

Independent Web Accessibility Specialist at Human Thing Ltd

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From the recording

Talk in brief

A collection of stories about reducing unnecessary stress in design and client communication without lowering standards. The speakers challenge the heroic-consultant model and recommend relationships based on equality, honest boundaries, memorable communication, and shared responsibility for the outcome. Gentle persuasion works better than abrupt refusal, while humor and distinctive experiences can make proposals easier to remember. The practical message is to stop performing expertise as rescue: understand the request, ask what success means, involve the client as a partner, and protect enough energy to make good decisions.

Key takeaways

01
Build a partner relationship with clients
Mutual respect creates room to question the brief and share responsibility instead of performing a one-sided service handoff.
Watch from 7:57
02
Set boundaries without abrupt rejection
A careful explanation and alternative path preserve the relationship better than refusing work with no context or support.
Watch from 13:21
03
Use time-boxed collaboration to reduce uncertainty
Hackathons and focused workshops can replace prolonged speculation with a shared experience and a concrete result.
Watch from 18:44
04
Make important communication memorable
A distinctive but relevant detail can help a proposal or decision stand out without relying on pressure or exaggerated claims.
Watch from 24:31
05
Work as equals rather than heroic rescuers
Modern product work depends on shared knowledge and accountability, not a designer arriving to save an organization alone.
Watch from 30:25

Video chapters

2:44Stories about stress and design work
The opening uses personal experiences to frame communication habits that create or reduce pressure.
7:57Client partnership instead of service theatre
A collaborative relationship allows the designer and client to examine the problem as equals.
13:21Saying no while keeping the conversation useful
Boundary-setting becomes easier when refusal includes reasoning, care, and a constructive alternative.
18:44Hackathons as concentrated shared learning
A short collaborative format creates decisions and tangible evidence under a clear time boundary.
24:31Creating an experience people remember
Humor and personal details are used to make high-stakes proposals distinctive and human.
30:25Leaving the design-hero story behind
The consultant is reframed as one contributor inside a system of client knowledge and shared responsibility.
36:50Questions about shyness and approaching people
The Q&A connects low-stress communication with the practical difficulty of beginning unfamiliar conversations.

Read edited transcript highlights

These concise notes were edited from automatic captions and checked against the talk structure. They are not a verbatim transcript.

Partnership creates permission to challenge the brief

A client relationship is stronger when both sides can bring expertise and uncertainty into the same conversation. The designer should understand the organization’s context before proposing a correction, and the client should be able to question the design reasoning. Shared responsibility reduces the pressure to pretend that one side already knows the complete answer.

Watch from 7:57

A boundary can still offer a useful next step

An immediate refusal may protect time while damaging trust or hiding the real constraint. Explain what cannot be done, why it conflicts with quality or capacity, and which smaller alternative remains possible. This approach does not require accepting inappropriate work; it makes the boundary understandable and lets the other person make an informed decision.

Watch from 13:21

A short format can contain uncertainty

A hackathon or focused workshop gives the team a clear period, a shared problem, and permission to produce an imperfect result. The time box prevents endless preparation and creates a concrete object for discussion. It works best when success is defined as learning or testing a direction, not pretending that a production product can be completed in two days.

Watch from 18:44

Memorable communication should reinforce the message

People receive many proposals and may remember only the feeling or one unusual detail. Humor, a visual device, or a personal note can create recognition, provided it supports the relationship and does not distract from the decision. Distinctiveness is useful when the substance remains clear, honest, and easy for the client to evaluate.

Watch from 24:31

Expertise does not make the designer a savior

Organizations already contain operational, customer, and technical knowledge that an external designer lacks. Arriving as the person who will fix everything creates dependence and resistance. Work as an equal: make your contribution explicit, learn from the client’s context, and build decisions the organization can understand and continue after the engagement.

Watch from 30:25

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