The ideal workshop for any digital designer dealing with difficult stakeholders

Have you ever found yourself stuck in iteration hell? Do stakeholders regularly frustrate you with unhelpful feedback? Do you dread the moment of presenting design concepts to clients? If so, this workshop is for you.

How this workshop will help

If you choose to attend this workshop you will…

• Feel more prepared going into a project, with a clearly defined brief and set of audiences.
• Achieve design approval without endless iteration.
• Confidently present designs and handle feedback from difficult stakeholders.
• Produce designs that can demonstrate they deliver results for clients.

What this 4 part workshop covers

This workshop takes place over four sessions each consisting of 1 ½ hours of teaching plus 30 minutes of Q&A. Students are encouraged to talk about particular challenges they have faced and share techniques they have found work for them.

Each session will cover the following:

1. Preparing for a Design Project

Kicking off a design project in the right way is essential for success. In this session, you will learn how to gather the right kind of information to create a quality design.

However, we will also look at some invaluable techniques you can apply at this early stage to ensure design approval is easier further in the project.

2. Producing Initial Design Concepts

How you approach producing your initial design concepts can radically impact the quality of the final result and the chance of stakeholders accepting it without endless revisions.

This session will explore techniques for engaging stakeholders while maintaining control over the final design. We will also explore a design process that ensures the final result meets business needs.

3. Dealing with Design Presentation and Feedback

Design is subjective, and everybody has opinions about what makes a good design. That can lead to endless iterations, compromise design and something that ultimately appeals to nobody.

In this session, we explore how to handle stakeholder feedback and how testing can help maintain control over a design once stakeholders get involved.

4. Ensuring Your Design Survives

There is often a big difference between an approved design and what the final website looks like. Stakeholders, developers and content creators can easily undermine a design both during development and post-launch.

In this session, we explore how you can avoid this by working alongside developers, using design systems and controlling what changes content creators can make.

Who Should Attend

This course is for anybody who ever struggles to get design approval, finds themselves trapped in iteration hell, or feels like they have been reduced to a pixel pusher. It will suit designers and project managers alike, no matter your experience.

About Paul

In case you do not follow me, my name is Paul Boag. You might be wondering what makes me qualified to run a course like this. For a start, I have been designing websites for over 25 years, which has given me ample time to refine my design process.

I don’t claim to be the world’s best designer, but I am trusted by organisations such as PUMA, UNICEF and GlaxoSmithKline to deliver results.

I am trusted, not because I produce the most creative designs, but because my approach delivers results and leaves stakeholders happy. It is an approach that has allowed me to build a thriving design business and an impressive client base.

Time & Schedule

This workshop is split over four days. Our virtual doors open at 8:45, we start at 9 AM PT.

The workshop sessions will run on the following days:

• Tue, November 15, 09:00 – 10:30 AM PT (18:00 – 19:30 CET)
• Wed, November 16, 09:00 – 10:30 AM PT (18:00 – 19:30 CET)
• Tue, November 22, 09:00 – 10:30 AM PT (18:00 – 19:30 CET)
• Wed, November 23, 09:00 – 10:30 AM PT (18:00 – 10:30 CET)

Day 1 — Preparing for a Design Project

8:45 am PT
Virtual doors open, registration, chat and introductions.

9:00 am – 10:00 am
Running a design project in the right way is essential for success. In this session, you will learn how to structure your design projects and what to include in each stage.

10:00 am – 10:30 am
Q&A with Paul on the day’s material. Networking!

Day 2 — Producing Initial Design Concepts

8:45 am PT
Virtual doors open, registration, chat and introductions.

9:00 am – 10:00 am
his session will explore techniques for engaging stakeholders while maintaining control over the final design.

10:00 am – 10:30 am
Q&A with Paul on the day’s material. Networking!

Day 3 — Dealing with Design Presentation and Feedback

8:45 am PT
Virtual doors open, registration, chat and introductions.

9:00 am – 10:00 am
In this session, we explore how to handle stakeholder feedback and how testing can help maintain control over a design once stakeholders get involved.

10:00 am – 10:30 am
Q&A with Paul on the day’s material. Networking!

Day 4 — Ensuring Your Design Survives

8:45 am PT
Virtual doors open, registration, chat and introductions.

9:00 am – 10:00 am
This session will explore techniques for engaging stakeholders while maintaining control over the final design.

10:00 am – 10:30 am
Q&A with Paul on the day’s material. Networking!