As designers, especially in large enterprises, we often might feel misunderstood and underappreciated. It might feel like every single day you have to fight for your users, explain yourself and defend your work. Its unfair, exhausting, painful and frustrating.Lets explore how to present design work, explain design decisions and get stakeholders on your side and speak the language that other departments understand.As designers, we might feel slightly frustrated by the language that often dominates business meetings. As Jason Fried has noted, corporate language is filled with metaphors of fighting. Companies conquer the market, they capture mindshare, they target customers, they destroy the competition, they want to attract more eye-balls, get users hooked, and increase life-time value.Designers, on the other hand, dont speak in such metaphors. We speak of how to reduce friction, improve consistency, empower users, enable and help users, meet their expectations, bridge the gap, develop empathy, understand user needs, design an inclusive experience.In many ways, these words are the direct opposite of the metaphors commonly used in corporate environments and business meetings. So no wonder that our beliefs and principles might feel misunderstood and underappreciated. A way to solve is to be deliberate when choosing words you use in the big meeting. In fact, its all about speaking the right language.This article is part of our ongoing series on design patterns. Its also an upcoming part of the 10h-video library on Smart Interface Design Patterns and the upcoming live UX training as well. Use code BIRDIE to save 15% off.Speaking The Right LanguageAs designers, we often use design-specific terms, such as consistency, friction and empathy. Yet to many managers, these attributes dont map to any business objectives at all, often leaving them utterly confused about the actual real-life impact of our UX work.One way out that changed everything for me is to leave UX vocabulary at the door when entering a business meeting. Instead, I try to explain design work through the lens of the business, often rehearsing and testing the script ahead of time.When presenting design work in a big meeting, I try to be very deliberate and strategic in the choice of the words Im using. I wont be speaking about attracting eye-balls or getting users hooked. Its just not me. But I wont be speaking about reducing friction or improving consistency either.Instead, I tell a story.A story that visualizes how our work helps the business. How design team has translated business goals into specific design initiatives. How UX can reduce costs. Increase revenue. Grow business. Open new opportunities. New markets. Increase efficiency. Extend reach. Mitigate risk. Amplify word of mouth.And how well measure all that huge impact of our work.Typically, its broken down into eight sections: Goals Business targets, KRs we aim to achieve. Translation Design initiatives, iterations, tests. Evidence Data from UX research, pain points. Ideas Prioritized by an impact/effort-matrix. Design work Flows, features, user journeys. Design KPIs How well measure/report success. Shepherding Risk management, governance. Future What we believe are good next steps.Key Takeaways Businesses rarely understand the impact of UX. UX language is overloaded with ambiguous terms. Business cant support confusing initiatives. Leave UX language and UX jargon at the door. Explain UX work through the lens of business goals. Avoid consistency, empathy, simplicity. Avoid cognitive load, universal design. Avoid lean UX, agile, archetypes, JTBD. Avoid stakeholder management, UX validation. Avoid abbreviations: HMW, IxD, PDP, PLP, WCAG. Explain how youll measure success of your work. Speak of business value, loyalty, abandonment. Show risk management, compliance, governance. Refer to cost reduction, efficiency, growth. Present accessibility as industry-wide best practice.Next time you walk in a meeting, pay attention to your words. Translate UX terms in a language that other departments understand. It might not take long until youll see support coming from everywhere just because everyone can now clearly see how your work helps them do their work better.Useful ResourcesBusiness Thinking For Designers, by Ryan RumseyBusiness For Designers (d.mba), by Alen FaljicCorporate Language Metaphors, by Jason FriedFive Things That Business Cares About, by Jared SpoolDirect Impact Of Design Work, by Andy BuddIts Time To End The Tyranny Of UX Terminology, by Joe NatoliHow To Use Storytelling In UX Research, by Allison Grayce MarshallHow To Defend Your Design Decisions, by Vitaly FriedmanMeet Smart Interface Design PatternsIf you are interested in similar insights around UX, take a look at Smart Interface Design Patterns, our 10h-video course with 100s of practical examples from real-life projects with a live UX training later this year. Everything from mega-dropdowns to complex enterprise tables with 5 new segments added every year. Jump to a free preview.Meet Smart Interface Design Patterns, our video course on interface design & UX.Jump to the video course100 design patterns & real-life examples.10h-video course + live UX training. Free preview.