About Benaz Irani
Benaz Irani is a design leader who empowers teams to build products that provide business impact, serve customers better and are usable by all. She thrives solving complex enterprise problems, from previously helping restaurants at OpenTable, to now focussing on live events at Ticketmaster. Design aside, she’s passionate about growing designers into leaders by using a coaching mindset, and also runs Therapy for Designers, a monthly group that drills into the soft skills of design.
Having just moved to London, she's making the most of Europe at her doorstep by travelling most weekends and eating out at as many restaurants as possible.
Empathy overload:
Striking a balance between compassion and confidence within your team
Empathy is a designer’s superpower. We tune into the emotions of our users to address their pains and also connect with the feelings of our teammates to collaborate closely together. However, when working closely with more assertive types in product and engineering, too much empathy can lead to worrying what others think, excessive agreeability and over-accommodation just to keep the peace.
In this talk, we'll discuss how designers can practice empathy while also confidently asserting their needs, communicating directly, navigating conflict, and knowing when and how to push back.
Strategies for designers:
- Practice assertiveness
- Embrace constructive conflict
- Know when and how to push back
- Set clear boundaries
- Be the decision maker
Benaz is speaking on day three, June 20th
Day three focuses on Design Ops and Design Systems.