I'm working on a large project where I am a UX consultant. The company I am contracted with also consult a domain expert (DE) but she is not UX.
More than a few times now I have noticed her insisting on layout ideas despite them being unfavourably received by users. She claims this is what users want, but this is demonstrably false because I have the research data in front of me.
question: how do I communicate my position better and minimise the bias the DE is introducing? Have you had projects where one stakeholder carried too much influence? How did you resolve the issue? Did you resolve the issue?
Answer
This can definitely be a delicate issue, and also one that I've encountered before.
It's all too tempting for everyone to want to jump in and suggest the design (and yes my DE does this all the time). Designing is fun, and who wouldn't want to help, right? How I've successfully deflected this individual's suggestions was by pointing out to the team (in the room, on the conference call, etc...) that we're not currently solving for the layout, but rather looking to understand the needs.
The best way to frame it up is to explain that your DE's role is to tell you the 'Why' you need to do something. Your role as consultant/designer/researcher is to go off and do iterations of research + design to come up with the 'how' you propose to solve this problem.
And to avoid any hurt feelings, I always go up to the DE in person and acknowledge their ideas, but emphasise that you're doing research to understand how you're going to solve the problem.
Bottom line, if that doesn't work... then show the DE the evidence from your research to assert/prove your point of view. Illustrating pain from the end user point of view helps me win every time.
Good luck!
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