5 Ways to Be Persuasive in Your UX Work

3. Bring Your Empathy with You

By their nature, UX professionals are empathetic toward users. To be persuasive, you need to apply this same empathy to team members who you are working with. Recognize that everyone is motivated by something different. If you don’t and instead try to argue directly against other people’s perspective or agenda, they will perceive you as not working toward the good of the group, and you will have a difficult time generating consensus. There are a couple of tricks in the books on persuasive psychology that can help with this.

First, acknowledge others’ point of view, take the emotion out of your side of the argument, and present the usability or user experience perspective. In 27 Powers of Persuasion, Chris St. Hilaire suggests that just using the word perspective is important. By referring to the user experience perspective, you are implicitly acknowledging that there are other perspectives—all of which should be considered equally. Again, tone is important. You should not suggest that the user experience perspective is the most important perspective. Rather, it should be one of many important perspectives that it’s necessary to consider during a discussion to achieve the best group decision.

Second, ask questions to make sure you understand what is motivating a different opinion. If you jump to a quick judgment about a design idea or a process someone else proposes, you might miss the rationale behind that idea and an opportunity to build on something for the good of the group. This is hard to do in the heat of an argument, but asking questions should come naturally to UX researchers.

Third, if you are considering a specific decision, try presenting a user experience rationale for both sides of an argument. By doing this, not only are you acknowledging the different perspectives, you are empowering others to weigh the pros and cons and giving them a choice.

4. There Is No I in User-Centered Design Team—Okay, Maybe Just One I

While the principles of persuasion I’ve discussed so far may appear to be techniques to get your way, your real goal should be getting your perspective heard, then generating consensus and making smart decisions that take all perspectives into account. Literature on the psychology of persuasion offers the idea that people naturally want to be united. If there is disagreement in a room about particular issues, people generally gravitate toward those who unite the group, not those who steadfastly try to push their own agenda. If a group can perceive you as a uniting person, who is most interested in the success of the group as a whole, you will be more likely to influence the group to hear your side of the story.

One way to play a uniting role is to remind people of the ultimate goal. For example, in a meeting, if you restate the goals of the meeting, or in an email, if you reiterate the top-level goals of a project, others will see you as someone who is interested in the best interests of the group.

Language is also important in this regard. As much as possible, try to say we rather than I. Even for outside consultants or agencies, referring to a project team collectively can help you define your unifying role and position you to be more likely to persuade.

5. When All Else Fails, Go Subconscious

The most interesting aspects of my reading on persuasiveness were the tips and tricks that you can leverage to persuade subconsciously. A few of those most relevant to UX design include the following:

• Yes, and…. Even if you disagree with a point someone else has made, acknowledge their point with Yes, then follow that up by stating your rationale and idea. The act of saying Yes makes others less defensive and more apt to hear your side.
• Copy physiological and verbal cues. If another person has certain mannerisms or patterns of speech, copying them will make them subconsciously feel more connected to you, and you will seem more likable and persuasive to them. Of course, you should not do this mockingly or jokingly. But done subtly, it can be effective.
• Don’t say No, say Let’s try this. If you don’t agree with an idea that someone has proposed, don’t argue directly against it. Instead, offer another idea. By adding more ideas to the mix, you are giving people an opportunity to compare their idea to yours, without actually saying no to them and alienating them.

Books on persuasive skills present a variety of other techniques. Find the ones that are most natural and work best for you.

Conclusion

To be successful in your work as a UX professional, you have to be good at persuasion. This does not mean being manipulative or demeaning. If you understand the basics of persuasion and constantly monitor and refine your persuasive skills, you can improve your overall effectiveness and increase the impact you have in your work. 

Further Reading

Boothman, Nicholas. How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less. New York: Workman Publishing Company, 2000.

Cialdini, Robert. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1993.

Lieberman, David J. Get Anyone to Do Anything: Never Feel Powerless Again—With Psychological Secrets to Control and Influence Every Situation. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000.

Mortensen, Kurt W. Maximum Influence: The 12 Universal Laws of Power Persuasion. New York: ANACOM, 2004.

St. Hilaire, Chris. 27 Powers of Persuasion: Simple Strategies to Seduce Audiences & Win Allies. New York: Prentice Hall Press, 2010.