What product designers can learn from explanatory journalism
Explanatory journalism offers product designers a useful model: prioritize important context over the latest information, prevent context from being lost, and explain decisions clearly to different audiences. The author argues that thorough research and documentation make design communication more concise and persuasive. A well-maintained “papertrail” becomes the foundation for better decisions and explanations. ## Favor the Important Over the New - Constantly updating feeds encourage people to value recent information over significant information. - Designers face the same bias when reacting to the latest: - Support ticket - Meeting summary - Customer call - Feedback should be collected in one place and labeled by source so it can be weighted appropriately. - Tracking how many customers or teams request something helps identify common needs and prioritize them. ## Prevent Context Collapse - Sharing tools make it easy to distribute mockups and updates, but recipients may lack the background needed to evaluate them properly. - Product decisions often draw on many sources: - Customer support conversations - Product managers’ customer meetings - Sales requirements - Design research interviews - Executive goals - Designers should assemble this context over time and preserve it in one accessible location. - During reviews, the designer must explain not only the proposed solution but also how it responds to—or intentionally excludes—the concerns of each audience. ## Use the Available Space - Digital publishing and podcasts are not constrained by the same space limitations as traditional media, making background and context easier to provide. - The author describes design work as two phases: - **Expansion:** Gather research, precedent, data, requirements, and evidence. - **Contraction:** Distill that material into concise explanations and decisions. - A thorough, organized research record makes short summaries, presentations, and conversations more accurate and effective. - Links from concise explanations to the underlying research preserve context without overwhelming the main narrative. ## Build and Maintain a Design Papertrail - Documentation benefits the designer even when nobody else reads every detail. - A papertrail should be: - Created during the research process - Kept up to date - Revisited regularly - Used as the canonical source for design decisions - The work focuses primarily on product usability, workflows, and interaction design, while product managers may focus more on pricing, prioritization, timelines, and business considerations. The practical recommendation is to document broadly, organize the evidence, and explain selectively. Designers who maintain strong context will make better decisions and communicate them more effectively.
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