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When a process comes to an end, we can usually expect an outcome – a way in which the world is a little bit different. In design we’re sometimes more focused on the process itself – the things we do – and not the outcome – the changes we experience. Asking this question encourages us to pay attention to those outcomes. Moreover, it encourages people to make their expectations plain. It addresses the common challenge that stakeholders in the design process make assumptions about what the design process will accomplish. It compels the team to talk through the potential inconsistent expectations about the conclusions of design.
One aspect of this question that makes it powerful is that it treats the process itself as a black box. This isn’t to say that the design process should be a black box, but for the sake of talking about outcomes, we’re ignoring the details about the activities to get there. One reason why that’s important is that there are several ways to get to the same outcomes. Knowing the expectations allows the design team to make course corrections without giving up the overall objective.
As someone in client services, I ask this question of every client. I ask it of every person on the client’s team. I’ll go around the table and ask each person to say what they expect. There’s value in everyone sharing so that we can re-set and normalize the expected outcomes of the design process. In some ways, nothing is more important than everyone knowing what we’re aiming for.
But even outside the context of client services this question can help any design or product team gauge the expectations of their stakeholders. Like any other complex process in this world, the design process is not widely understood, and comes fraught with preconceptions. Whether you’re working with new people or long-time collaborators, understanding how people picture the end allows you all to talk more concretely about the design process.
I’m listening for two things when I ask this question.
First, I want to know what deliverables or artifacts they expect to have in-hand at the end of this process. A set of high-fidelity mock-ups of every screen is different from a few architecture diagrams to describe the structure of the product. I might even frame the question this way: “What do you expect to have in hand at the end of this process?” Knowing the desired product of the design process can help re-set expectations, inform the structure of the process itself, and clarify their understanding of design.
Then, I’m want to know how much progress they expect to make on this project. The process you’re asking about may come to an end – projects are finite – but the product you’re working on does not. This question asks the stakeholders to, in a sense, quantify the change they expect to see on the product. One way to reframe the question would be, “How is the product different after we’re done?”
Asking this question part way through a project allows you to make sure that expectations or objectives haven’t changed. This question encourages the team to evaluate whether they’re all still focused on the right thing.
Of course, asking at the beginning is essential to clarifying everyone’s desired and expected outcomes. As a consultant, I often get to ask this question even before a project starts, during the sales process. Sometimes the response to this question is the difference between pursuing a contract and not.
Asking what they expect to happen even beyond the end of the project provides more context. I sometimes ask them to say what they will do with the artifacts that come out of the other end of the process. It’s one thing to say they want a complete design specification and quite another to learn that they have no intention of building anything right away. Learning how this process fits into their larger process sheds more light on their desired outcomes, and helps you turn the dials on their expectations, if necessary.
What do you expect to see come out of the other end of this activity?
At a smaller scale, every activity on a project has an outcome. People have different expectations of activites that seem like they should be rote by now. What do you really expect to learn from this user research? What do you really want from this navigation testing? What do you really expect out of this one-hour brainstorming session? I can think of instances throughout my career where I had to re-set expectations for these activities because clients or stakeholders expected something else (really, something more) than the activity was ever going to yield.
What do your stakeholders expect to see come out of the other end of this process?
Asking your stakeholders about their stakeholders gives you some insight about the dynamic between them, they kind of pressure they’re under. Everyone has to answer to someone, and as much as we’d like the process to speak for itself, we can be more successful when we have some insight about these pressures.