Adobe XD - how to influence C-level executives with design-thinking prototyping

IT'S ALL ABOUT CHANGING THE PERCEPTION!

How to influence C-Level Executives with design-thinking prototyping

One of the hardest tasks that professionals must perform is influencing and attracting the attention of C-Level Executives. This issue belongs to the category of things that never happen twice. The chances are not in your favour, so you must step up your game and capture their attention at the first available moment. But what if you could improve those chances by using Adobe XD's prototype and visualisation tools? How to influence C-Level Executives with Design Thinking Prototyping?

How many times have you heard the expression “The eyes, chico, they never lie”? Besides being one of the most reproduced sentences of all time and part of an extraordinary movie (thank you, Al Pacino), it’s also a crazy-true quote. And let us show you how, with a little bit of Design Thinking and Adobe XD Magic.

A design-led approach is becoming increasingly popular among professionals and enterprises as a way to communicate their ventures and proposals. It is becoming more and more important for everyone to think about new ways to engage customers, capture their attention, and effectively communicate the value of your product or service if you want to remain competitive and, most importantly, profitable in an aggressive and dynamic market.

Every day, many professionals grab the attention of every level of management across an organisation, getting increasingly confident after every meeting, until they reach the most anticipated moment: the C-level executives pitch. The ones that simply don’t have time across their schedules, and every professional knows that chance might be their last. And when those professionals show up, armed with all the material they could muster, including every slide deck they had made for their product or service, they simply don't seem interested.

They do not recognise the value that the proposal offers them since they are unable to see the solution during the brief 30 minute pitch and do not have the time to pore over the extensive quantity of materials and presentations.

All of this because they cannot visualise.

But what if there was a solution for that? What if you could use innovative solutions, like Adobe XD, to solve this problem?

A design-led approach

Some of the most renowned companies in the world are gradually incorporating design thinking techniques into daily operations. The techniques centred around Design Thinking are fundamentally altering business, influencing how the C-suite thinks and how the design and product teams function.

According to a 2018 Mckinsey Report, design-led companies earn almost 32% more revenue and 56% higher total returns, by transforming their processes, by employing an iterative, hands-on approach to creating innovative solutions.

Design Thinking essentially changed the focus from a business-centric approach (where everything was built based on assumptions) to a more customer-centric solution (supported by insights, observation and exploration).

And one of the singular approaches that Design Thinking brings is the power of prototyping. As we all know, many businesses disappeared into obscurity due to the lack of focus on what the consumer needed in their product delivery. The obsession for re-inventing the wheel was so massive that the entire focus on innovation completely overlapped the actual end-goal of a solution: solve.

The Prototyping Stage that usually comes with a Design Thinking process enables a complete simulation of the future product, ensuring that proper testing gets done before too many resources get spent.

You are now thinking: how can prototyping help me get higher-success with C-Level Executives?

How can I obtain more C-level executive traction with design thinking prototyping?

With your data statistics, graphs, technical descriptions, and voluminous technical documentation in hand, you enter a meeting with C-Level Executives, and you're surprised by the lack of interest shown.

By this point, you are aware that the individuals in front of you haven't had the opportunity to thoroughly review your documents, and because of the meeting's time constraints, you are failing to demonstrate the solution’s true worth to them.

But what if they could actually see the solution? What if they could actually touch it, move it? What if they could already see beyond the mockup that it's in front of them and actually give you ways to improve it?

With a fully designed and interactive prototype that bears a striking resemblance to the final product, high-fidelity prototyping can be a speedy and resource-effective way to gain the support needed to sell a solution or a proposition.

The people in front of you can actually see it, which utterly outshines any other documents, presentations, or interesting information you bring. They can browse, see the advantages, and because of their highly developed logical thinking, they can even understand ways to make it better in the future.

You are painting a picture that leads them to dream.

You are truly presenting them with a solution rather than just a concept. You can now step it up and obtain those "wows" you've been aiming to get from the start by producing a prototype using cutting-edge software with prototyping features, like Adobe XD.

Adobe XD - The missing link

A robust and user-friendly vector-based experience design platform, Adobe XD provides teams with the tools they need to jointly create the best experience. Built from the ground up with performance in mind, Adobe XD helps design teams craft the most dynamic prototypes, aiding communication and maintaining alignment across teams efficiently.

As part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe XD works in unison with the other Adobe creative products to give users the best possible experience. The program enables the building of optimised, readily accessible libraries that can be utilised by entire design teams in a collaborative setting thanks to a wide range of component features.

With Adobe XD, you can ensure that the prototypes you deliver to get the approval you need are completely reliable, with the speed and functionalities you could expect from a final solution. In a single application, you can design, prototype and share your creative mockup.

The future

Do you need help to see your picture clearly?

A facilitated design sprint can do just that. In a short period of time we can transform your ideas into full-scale prototypes that have a close resemblance to what your final solution could look like.

Test your idea before committing to significant development! Learn more here.

How can we help?

The Virtual Forge offers a complete set of design services. From Design Sprint Facilitation to UX/UI Development development, we have a global team of experts who can help you get across different obstacles and deliver the best solutions for your problems.

As an Adobe Partner, we are also experienced Adobe XD Users. Our Adobe XD Migration Services offer you the opportunity to completely change your design system, migrating to the most complete experience design software in the market, fully integrated with the Adobe Creative Cloud.

We provide a seamless and easy transition from your existing design systems to Adobe XD, including the creation of existing assets and guidance on how to use XD and apply the assets that have been created.

Find out more here.