Communicating What We Do, How We Do It, and Why it Takes Time and Money

This session discusses practical techniques for practitioners, business developers, UX managers, and others involved in IT design and development for “deconstructing the Magic” — that is, for explaining in a meaningful, clear, tactful, cogent, and impactful way what we do, how we do it, and why it takes time and costs money. We discuss messaging aimed at a variety of audiences, talk about actual experiences (both good and bad) delivering this message, and, with the audience's help, brainstorm additional techniques. The goal of this session is to send all participants back to the workplace with practical, actionable techniques for justifying what we do in a way that gets buy-in from our audience and hence, makes our job easier, our relationships more collaborative, and ultimately, our deliverables more useful, usable, and engaging.