Communication: Your Secret UX Weapon

We often hear that good design is invisible.

But should your rationale be invisible, too?

Should your strategy be hidden behind file links and Figma layers?

How much time do we spend articulating the reasoning behind our choices?

How often do we pause to ensure that teams, stakeholders, and users alike understand our intent?

No matter how brilliant your UX work is, it won’t make an impact if it isn’t effectively communicated.

Communication is the foundation of great UX.

And yet, it’s often in short supply. ⬇️

📌What’s Inside

1. The Imperative of Communication in UX
2. The Business Case
3. “Design Is Conversation” – The Don Norman View
4. Start With Why: Applying Simon Sinek to UX
5. Nine Habits of Good UX Communication

💬The Imperative of Communication in UX

Design is a team sport.

We collaborate with product managers, developers, researchers, clients, and others

That’s why even the smallest miscommunication can derail even the best intentions.

In fact, communicating about our designs can be as important as the designs themselves.

Why?

Because without shared understanding, even a brilliant design won’t see the light of day.

These days, we have a plethora of digital collab tools: Zoom, Slack, Figma, Miro…you name it.

We think we’re more connected than ever. But we’ve never been so alone.

The digital tools meant to enhance communication often end up creating more barriers.

We have more ways to connect, yet we end up saying less. True connection becomes harder.

In business, this leads to lost revenue and product failures.

Even the best-designed product can fall short if its purpose isn’t communicated well or if the team isn’t aligned on the vision.

As Nielsen Norman Group experts note, “Effective communication and collaboration are crucial for the success of any organization.”

As Don Norman often reminds us, design is about people. And since it’s for people, we must communicate it well.

Having an online whiteboard is great, but it won’t replace honest conversations.

Real communication requires human context and discussion, not just comments on a design file.

It’s the difference between teams that merely “handoff” work and teams that truly collaborate on great outcomes.

💼The Business Case

Effective communication has tangible business benefits.

Research shows that well-connected, communicative teams are far more productive.

A McKinsey analysis found that improving communication and collaboration could raise knowledge worker productivity by as much as 20–25%.

When people feel informed and heard, they spend less time duplicating work or chasing down information and more time building great products.

Good communication also drives better design outcomes.

When everyone involved is on the same page, the end product tends to hit the mark more often.

Teams that invest in regular communication and knowledge-sharing tend to deliver higher-quality user experiences that meet both user needs and business goals.

Fewer misunderstandings mean fewer last-minute hiccups and a stronger shared vision of success.

Poor communication, on the other hand, can be painfully costly.

A Nielsen Norman Group study of UX teams found that failed collaboration (often rooted in communication breakdowns) leads to frustration, duplicated work, and costly rework, ultimately hurting the bottom line.

🎨💬“Design Is Conversation” – The Don Norman View

UX legend Don Norman has said that

“Design is conversation between the designer and the user.”

In other words, a product’s design should feel like a dialogue.

Every button, error message, or interaction is essentially the designer speaking to the user, and the user “speaks” back through their behaviour.

If that conversation breaks down, the experience fails.

But Norman’s idea of design-as-conversation applies not only to the user interface, but it’s also a mindset for designers themselves.

Designing a product isn’t a one-way monologue where the designer unilaterally “delivers” a solution.

It’s rather a back-and-forth process: researching users (listening to their needs), iterating on solutions (responding to feedback), and testing designs (asking questions and learning).

When you think about it, design is a continuous conversation: between designers and users, within the design team, and across disciplines.

Adopting this mindset reminds us that communication is woven into the very fabric of UX.

Just as we aim for a smooth dialogue between the interface and the user, we should cultivate a smooth dialogue within our teams, too.

That way, the result is not only a more human-centred product, but also a team that understands why the design turned out the way it did.

❓Start With Why: Applying Simon Sinek to UX

Why does communication matter so much in design decisions?

Because every decision needs a reason that others can rally around.

Simon Sinek, though not originally from a UX background, has once introduced a concept that is highly relevant to UX.

In his book “Start With Why” (and the preceding TED Talk), Sinek highlighted that

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”

In the context of UX design, this means that people don’t buy into a design solution until they grasp the motivation behind it.

Great UX communicators always explain the “why” behind their design choices.

Instead of just saying, “Here’s the new layout,” they might say, “We chose this layout to help users find information faster, because in our research, 60% of users struggled with the old menu.”

When we frame a design decision in terms of the problem it solves or the goal it serves, we anchor our work in purpose.

And purpose is what aligns people.

We’re emotional creatures, after all.

So when we’re exposed to the rationale, the psychology, the reasoning behind concepts, we naturally connect with them on a much deeper level.

And just like that, stakeholders are far more likely to support a design when they understand the reasoning.

As for the users, they often embrace designs that have a clear purpose and value to them.

Communicating that “why” is therefore not just for getting stakeholders onboard, it ultimately shows in the product and benefits the end user experience too.

🧠Nine Habits of Good UX Communication

What does good communication look like day-to-day for a UX professional?

Here are nine habits that you can start practising immediately to become a better communicator:

👂1️⃣Listen First

Great communicators start by actively listening.

They listen to users (through research), to teammates in other functions, and to stakeholder concerns.

One tip that you might find helpful is to listen more than you speak.

This way, you gain all the information that you need much faster.

For example, when you ask people, from the start, about their top concerns or goals on the project you’re working on, that input can then shape how the design is approached.

But not only that, it makes others feel heard and valued right from the beginning, which is a great morale booster.

🧠2️⃣Know Your Listeners

Adjust your message to who you’re talking to.

Engineers might want to hear about feasibility, while executives care about outcomes.

At the roots of effective UX communication lies empathy for the audience.

For instance, if you’re presenting a design to marketing execs, you might focus on how the design supports customer engagement and brand consistency, rather than delving into UI animations or code details.

Empathise with your audience and speak the language that aligns with your listeners’ priorities.

🗣️3️⃣Avoid Lingo

UX has its own lingo, but tossing it around to everyone can alienate people.

The best communicators explain things in plain language.

They describe what a design does and why it works without resorting to tech talk.

Imagine explaining a checkout redesign to a non-designer: instead of saying “We redesigned the information architecture to improve the cognitive load,” you might say “We simplified the checkout steps so it’s less confusing, users can now complete the purchase in 3 easy clicks.”

This way, your message isn’t lost in translation.

📖4️⃣Tell the Story

Facts and figures are important, but humans are wired for storytelling.

Rather than just listing features (“This page has A, B, and C”), effective UXers frame the design as a narrative.

They might walk stakeholders through a user journey, telling the story of “Meet Alice. She’s a busy mom who comes to our site… here’s how the new design helps her…”.

This habit makes your communication more memorable. Storytelling connects design choices to real-life context.

🖼️5️⃣Show It

Great communicators accompany their words with sketches, wireframes, or prototypes to illustrate ideas they talk about.

A quick sketch on a whiteboard or a clickable prototype can convey a design concept far better than a verbal description alone.

People absorb information differently; many grasp concepts faster with visual aids, which reduces any misunderstandings.

🤝6️⃣Ask for Feedback

Successful UX’ers are very good at creating channels for others to provide input.

They don’t wait until the end to get feedback, but rather, they solicit it continuously.

Just simply make it safe for others to be honest.

This is known as psychological safety.

It’s an atmosphere where team members feel safe to speak up, admit mistakes, and ask questions without fear of ridicule or blame.

Google’s famous Project Aristotle research found that psychological safety was the single most important factor of high-performing teams.

You can cultivate this by encouraging questions and showing appreciation for honest feedback, good or bad.

📣7️⃣Be Proactive with Updates

Nobody likes being left in the dark.

Great UX communicators share progress proactively.

They don’t assume everyone knows what’s going on, they take initiative to update stakeholders before they have to ask.

This can be as simple as a quick email or Slack message.

Proactive communication builds trust.

It also shows you understand that others care about the project’s status.

💡8️⃣Communicate the Rationale

When presenting design decisions, explain the “why” (as we discussed earlier).

Instead of only showing what you designed, walk your listeners through the reasoning.

For example: “We moved the profile menu from the right to the left side because during testing, users consistently overlooked it on the right.”

When you explain the logic (especially if backed by data or research), you automatically preempt many questions.

🌀9️⃣Stay Open

Maintain a mindset of empathy and curiosity during any conversation.

Ask questions like “Help me understand your perspective” when facing resistance, rather than immediately arguing.

Seek to understand the concerns beneath someone’s feedback.

This habit creates a problem-solving tone instead of defensiveness.

For instance, if a stakeholder says, “I don’t like this layout,” as an open communicator, you might respond with “I’m curious, what part isn’t sitting right with you? Is there a specific concern you have?”

At the end of the day, UX is as much about communication as it is about pixels or prototypes.

Good communication is often invisible in the final result, but crucial in enabling any project to take a good shape.

It is not just a soft skill for us, but the core of design work itself.

In my own experience, the times I’ve felt most effective as a designer were not just when I had an “eureka!” moment, but when I managed to articulate that idea to others and get them excited about it.

Our job is only done when the team and stakeholders understand it, implement it correctly, and it makes a positive difference for users.

All of that hinges on communication.

In the end, the truth is simple: if people don’t understand your work, it doesn’t matter how brilliant it is.

“Good documentation (and by extension, communication) leads to better and faster decision making, aids in presenting and justifying design decisions, and reduces the cognitive load on everyone involved.”

So, let’s not wait for your work to speak for itself.

Ultimately, pixels won’t talk for you.

But you can.

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📚 Sources & Further Reading

1. Michael Brown (LinkedIn, 2024) – “If no one understands your impact, it didn’t happen.” Quoted in: Linn Vizard, Ask a Service Designer: Decision Making, LinkedIn post.
2. Image source: Maze
3. Tom Greever, Articulating Design Decisions (O’Reilly Media, 2015)
4. Rachel McConnell, Collaboration – it’s process, not tools, UX Collective (2019)
5. Nielsen Norman Group (Tim Neusesser, 2023), Crossfunctional Collaboration: Challenges and Strategies for Success
6. Don Norman – Quoted as saying “Design is conversation between the designer and the user.” (as referenced in Amuse Conference 2016).
7. Simon Sinek, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action (2009)
8. Image source: Golden Circle WHY. SlideShare, 2014
9. Peter Economy, How Google’s Project Aristotle Shows the Importance of a Caring Workplace, Inc.com (May 11, 2025)
10. Nielsen Norman Group (Kate Kaplan, 2021), Stakeholder Analysis for UX Projects
11. McKinsey Global Institute, The Social Economy: Unlocking Value Through Social Technologies (2012)
12. Nielsen Norman Group (2024) – Effective Visual Communication for UX Teams

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