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Home / Sessions / Reframing “Selling” as “Problem Solving”: How to better sell the value of what you do

Reframing “Selling” as “Problem Solving”: How to better sell the value of what you do

2019 IA Conference /

Time(s)

March 23, 2019
12:00 PM to 12:45 PM CT

Location

Peninsula 5-6

Description

In a world where funding is finite and ideas are bountiful, how do you persuade your stakeholders and decision makers that your recommendations are worth prioritizing? Selling the value of the work.

The challenge is that few of us at IAC19 love to sell — we love IA, research, UX, content strategy, etc — and we’re generally not very good at selling because it’s not where we’ve focused the effort in our careers.

Due to this, IAs, UXers, Content Strategists, and Researchers are being poorly prepared. This lack of preparation and training means that we can’t sell the benefits of how we know that we can help, slows down our career progression, and prevents us from being “at the table” with decision makers.

The good news: It’s possible to apply a low effort, high impact, human-centered framework that reframes “selling” as “problem solving” and applies personas to develop empathy with and get into the mindset of your stakeholders and decision makers.

These personas are built by answering some simple questions:

  • Who is the decision maker? This includes the potential creation of multiple personas and analysis of their needs.
  • What is their greatest challenge and how are they being measured? This includes identification of big picture business issues that are both quantifiable as well as time bound.
  • What kinds of problems are getting in their way of achieving the challenge? This focuses on the perspective of that individual and not the assumptions that we may have.
  • What do they see as the solutions to those problems? Similarly, this is focused on the perspective of the stakeholder and not the assumptions we may walk into the conversation with.
  • How would they be impacted by success (and failure)? This is where we measure value – both in business terms (save $4M) as well as personal terms (get promoted). This includes suggestions for how to estimate value based on increasing revenue, reducing costs, speed to market, mitigation of risk, etc.

By building out these profiles, we can much more easily speak the language of the stakeholders while focusing on what it is that we love doing best: solving problems.

About the speakers

Amanda Ruzin

Amanda Ruzin began her career as a developer, and quickly discovered that human factors were her favorite part of the software development lifecycle. A career in user experience followed shortly thereafter: over the last nearly-20 years, she’s focused on using insights to fuel strategic design.As the Vice President of Experience Design at Bounteous, she heads a diverse team that helps clients understand problems, design solutions, and iteratively create amazing digital products and services. Amanda is a maker of many things, including shoes, hats, and handbags.

Sponsor IAC

We’re looking for organizations who share our commitment to building and sustaining programs that drive a more inclusive industry. Learn more on the Sponsor IAC23 page or contact us directly at info@theiaconference.com for more information.

Thanks to this year’s sponsors!

Logo for sponsor Optimal Workshop
Platinum sponsor
Optimal Workshop
Logo for sponsor Factor Firm
Gold sponsor
Factor Firm
Logo for sponsor Last Call Media
Silver sponsor
Last Call Media
Logo for sponsor Design for Context
Scholarship sponsor
Design for Context

Logo for sponsor A Book Apart
In-Kind sponsor
A Book Apart
Logo for sponsor Balsamiq
In-Kind sponsor
Balsamiq
Logo for sponsor MURAL
In-Kind sponsor
MURAL
Logo for sponsor Rosenfeld Media
In-Kind sponsor
Rosenfeld Media
Logo for sponsor UX Camp DC
Community sponsor
UX Camp DC
Logo for sponsor World IA Day
Community sponsor
World IA Day

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