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€495^.00 Excl. 19% VAT Register for this workshop → Get a single workshop, or bundle with a conference.

Learn practical frameworks and tools to become a better communicator and a more influential UX professional. Turn internal friction into collaboration, earn respect from stakeholders, and advance to more senior roles. No fluff — just actionable strategies that work in real-world conditions.

This workshop bridges UX expertise and organizational influence. You’ll learn frameworks for diagnosing communication breakdowns, building stakeholder trust, and understanding the business priorities that drive decisions. Skills that separate senior practitioners from everyone else.

During the day, we’ll cover:

• Why friction happens — diagnosing the real causes of collaboration breakdowns and mapping misalignment patterns
• Building trust & respect — the five core behaviors that generate credibility, with practical examples and reflection exercises
• Communication patterns that work — shifting from talking at to talking with stakeholders, using storytelling and smart framing
• Aligning business & UX priorities — what “business first, users second” really means, and how to work within real constraints
• Saying no with influence — six ways to push back without burning bridges, plus practice scripts and decision filters
• Takeaways & action planning — personal action steps, templates and worksheets you can use straight away

Who Is This Workshop For?

This workshop is for UX designers, product designers, service designers, researchers, product managers, engineers, team leads and anyone who’s tired of fighting the same battles over and over.

If you work with people — especially people with different goals and pressures than yours — you’ll leave with clarity, confidence and practical tools you can use immediately.

Every exercise includes hands-on prompts you can use immediately with your team.

What Will You Learn In This Workshop?

• Why friction happens inside organizations — and how to diagnose where communication and alignment break down.
• The UX Value Loop — a powerful framework for understanding and fixing collaboration failures.
• How to shift from talking at people to talking with them.
• The Five Requirements that build trust and respect (and why most teams skip them).
• How your behavior becomes your brand — and how to intentionally shape how others perceive UX.
• How to close your influence gaps and earn credibility across departments.
• How to define your 8-word mission statement and create a UX Charter that sets clear expectations.
• The 4 pillars (product, process, people, politics) and how they drive or derail every decision.
• What “business first, users second” really means — and why it’s essential to your influence.
• How to understand business models, cost structures, margins and constraints that shape priorities.
• How to use the Feasibility Matrix to determine what’s actually worth doing vs. what’s loudest.
• How to say no — confidently, respectfully and without burning bridges (12 ways!).
• Storytelling techniques that make your ideas impossible to ignore.

What You’ll Take Away

By the end of the workshop, you’ll have:

• A clearer understanding of your role in the organization.
• A new way to communicate so your ideas land the first time.
• Tools to pre-empt and diagnose friction — and turn it into alignment.
• A mission statement, brand definition and UX Charter you can share immediately.
• Practical methods for making smarter decisions and guiding teams.
• A repeatable framework to grow influence.
• Confidence to push back — respectfully, strategically and effectively.

Your work gets better, your conversations get easier — and your relationships with the rest of the business get stronger.

What Do I Need To Bring?

Get a good night’s sleep and come ready to think, reflect and discuss. Be ready to challenge your communication habits and familiar patterns. Bring a notebook if you like — but paper and pencil will be provided.

You’ll need attention, openness and a willingness to look honestly at how you show up inside your organization. No special software required!

About Joe Natoli

Joe Natoli has spent more than 30 years helping UX and product teams in large enterprises, government agencies and global organizations turn chaos into clarity — and friction into collaboration. He’s the founder of the UX 365 Academy and has taught over 400,000 students. He’s authored the bestselling books Think First and The User Experience Team of One (with Leah Buley).

Joe has built three decades of career success on a straightforward, practical approach — no jargon, no fluff, no dogma — that helps people succeed in the real-world conditions no one prepares UXers and designers for.

Time & Location

This full-day workshop will take place the day before SmashingConf. The workshop will be running from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM on Monday, September 7.

Schedule for Monday, September 7

9:00 AM – Doors open, Registration
9:30 AM – Morning session begins
1:00 PM – Lunch
2:00 PM – Afternoon session begins
3:30 PM – Coffee Break
5:00 PM – The End

Save EUR 100 when signing up for the conference and a workshop!