Illustrations by Anik Bonnema.

Video strategy for design leadership

How I get stakeholder attention and buy-in using video project updates

Since Shopify moved to a digital by default workplace last year, it’s increasingly felt like a mad-hatter race to get my teammates’ and stakeholders’ attention (let alone their buy-in!) to the UX process and key design decisions.

I’ve spent this past year practicing and perfecting my project update videos and my most recent clip received awesome praise from peers and stakeholders—all the way up to the VP level!

For the first time in my career, multiple members of senior leadership messaged me directly to tell me “you crushed it!” and that the video updates set a strong tone for internal communications for our UX team. Video updates have also consistently come up in my feedback reviews as a critical part of involving teammates throughout design process.

Needless to say, video updates have now become a critical part of my design process, and I hope these tips and tricks inspire you to give it a try, too.

While I can’t share my actual videos due to intellectual property restrictions (sorry!), I can share the secret sauce that went into it behind the scenes. Hooray!

But first, why video?

Every minute of the workday, our stakeholders and teammates are bombarded with Slack pings, Google Doc notifications, Figma comments, virtual meetings, Miro comments, emails, and…and…and. To make things harder, some of them have also been balancing homeschooling, or other stresses that the pandemic has brought into remote work life.

This means that sending out a Figma file or document, and expecting teammates to self-navigate and extract the key points you want to share is likely to be missed or ignored.

As UXers on our team, sometimes the best way to advocate for the final user experience, is to first raise the bar on how we collaborate—especially in a digital by default workplace.

We need to be empathetic to our teammates and stakeholders as human beings who are overwhelmed with digital content. In other words, I think we need to be as diligent about designing our updates as we are about the products that we build.

We need to be as diligent about designing our updates as we are about the products that we build.

And so, let’s talk about how to cut through the digital noise with fast, punchy, and compelling video updates that create space for discussion, collaboration, and effective decision-making.

Two types of video updates

I use two types of video updates in our design process at Shopify.

1. 🍿 Video snacks: I call the first type a “video snack.” This is a routine scrappy video (5 minutes max) that’s used to bring teammates along the decision making process. These short clips are critical to sharing and aligning on context, inviting diverse feedback throughout the process, and sharing key design decisions.
2. 🤩 Show stoppers: The second kind of video, what I call the “show stopper” is a more polished clip used to present the problem and proposed solution to senior leadership or key stakeholders. I try to keep this to around 10 minutes. Unlike project teammates, this audience is usually removed from the day-to-day decisions, and so requires more storytelling to clearly frame the problem and how the proposed solution achieves key goals to address that problem.

Hot tip: If you’re struggling with time, imagine you have to pay $1,000 for every minute of that video. Make every second count. This starts with being strategic about what you want to communicate.

🍿 The video snack (5 mins max)

At Shopify we use a three phase process for all projects: proposal, prototype, and build. Around 80% of my video updates happen in the prototype phase, when actively exploring ideas and solutions. During this phase, I try to post one video per week to keep a good rhythm and stay accountable to my teammates. This helps me ensure I am designing transparently, and gives my team and stakeholders lots of opportunities to give feedback throughout the design process.

As some general rules of thumb, I like to post when there’s a:

• Decision that I need the team to align on
• Concern that I need help or additional perspectives on
• Idea that I want to brainstorm and grow with diverse perspectives

I always start with my end goal in mind. A little bit of prep in the form of a storyboard, or even a bullet list, before filming can be helpful and save you from writing or memorizing a script.

Here’s a basic outline that you can apply to any short video:

1. Set expectations
2. Show (don’t tell) your work
3. Close with a clear call to action

To get specific, if your goal is to generate discussion, your outline may look like this:

• Set expectations: Start the video with a clear purpose so your audience knows what you want from them: “I want your feedback on X.”
• Show work: Jump in immediately, “let me show you specifically what I’d like feedback on”. This can include a quick rationale of a static mockup, or a click through of a design flow. If your project is earlier on, it could even be a walkthrough of some thoughts on digital sticky notes. Showing visuals that reinforce what you want to discuss will help your teammates get clear on how they can help you.
• Call to action: Close by reminding your teammates that you’re inviting their feedback, and how they can share, eg. “Your feedback is helpful, please send it via DM or in this Slack thread.”

In contrast, if your goal is to share a key decision that’s already been made (rather than solicit feedback), your outline may look more like this:

• Set expectations: Frame the video with a total spoiler so there are no surprises for teammates. For example: “After 3 days pairing with our content strategist, here’s the direction we landed on with high confidence. Let me show you a bit of context for why we got there, and how this will surface in the end product.”
• Show work: While you can simply record your face (I’m sure it’s a beautiful face), it’s always ideal to show your solutions or give your viewers something to look at that’s relevant to your work. It could be a spreadsheet, a doc, or a Figma file. This is part of making every second count. The best way to build trust as a designer is to continuously share design decisions with clear rationale.
• Call to action: Let your teammates know what your next steps are, and whether you’re open to feedback or not. For example, “We’ve finalized this decision with buy-in from key stakeholders, and our next steps are to explore X further.”

Sidenote: One hurdle I had to work through when I started video updates was to politely invite my ego to slide out of the way (especially if that pesky inner critic is judging your voice, your hair, your vocabulary, your pacing…), and instead to focus on the long-game. If your ego is being a bother, try asking yourself the right questions when judging your video, specifically: Will watching this video update a valuable use of my teammates’ time, and how does this help move the project forward?

🤩 The show stopper (10 mins max)

Ok, this is where we take things to the next level.

This is a trick you can use in short clips as well, but packs a big punch, especially for key stakeholder review clips.

Are you ready for the ultimate secret sauce for impactful video shares?

*drumroll*

In my opinion, and experience, the best way a designer can make a video stand out is to surface the voice of the end user.

Specifically, if you have clips from user testing or interviews, or even direct quotes from support tickets or feedback forms, show them.

This is part of the power of video. You can use audio clips, or show quotes live in your forums, or typed out in fancy typography—but if you have actual footage of users giving feedback on your product, boom. It’s magic.

Think of it from a senior executive’s perspective: they spend their days context-switching like crazy, and are distanced from what we at Shopify call the “front line” (aka. insights directly from our end users).

If you can help your whole team (regardless of job title) continuously build empathy with your end users, then you’ve just gone from a good designer to a great one. I‘m convinced that video is one of the most powerful tools to help take your impact to the next level as a UXer on a product team.

If you can help your team continuously build empathy with your end users, all the way up to senior levels, then you’ve just gone from a good designer to a great one.

This is what the 10-minute clip outline that I sent to our senior stakeholders looked like:

1. Set expectations
   Clear framing of the project problem statement, vocabulary used (if niche or complex), and quick metrics that illustrate why this is a problem worth solving.
2. Share intended outcomes in the context of problems (as supported by data and users’ voice)
   Three clearly stated intended outcomes that demonstrate the problem from the users’ point of view. Show or speak to the project’s primary goal, or intended outcome #1, and what problem this will solve. Then, show the problem (for example, if it’s to get out of a spreadsheet, show the pain of clicking into the spreadsheet). Add any relevant data and a short, 10–30 second, user interview clip that clearly articulates the impact of this specific problem in their own words, with their tone of voice and expression all captured (if possible). I trim the clips really tight so there’s no ambiguity to distract from this specific problem and goal. Repeat for each intended outcome.
3. Show (don’t tell) work
   Walk through the full experience in a clickable or interactive prototype that ties the solutions back to the problems addressed. (Note: I prefer not to interrupt this walkthrough with any interview clips, so that stakeholders can get a feel for the full experience).
4. Close with repetition, and end on a high!
   Drive your point home with a reminder of the anticipated value and impact of moving this project forward. Key metrics of success, and one or two user clips where they talk about their hopes and dreams as related to any intended outcome for this project. This follows a basic narrative arc, taking your stakeholders on a journey through the depths of pain and struggle, and setting them up to feel pumped up and excited about the value your project will bring to end users.

Final note on tools

Great news —no fancy equipment is necessary for high impact video updates. It’s absolutely possible to stay scrappy without compromising on impact. For all my updates, I use Quicktime to record, and iMovie to edit. For audio, I use old-school plug-in headphones and just ensure my clothing isn’t brushing against the mic (that’s the worst!) At Shopify we have other resources and funds to enhance our digital-by-default experience, so check out what resources are available in your workplace. That’s it. That’s all. Go get ‘em.