Frequently asked questions
Presenting many options invites open-ended opinion, which turns a decision meeting into a taste debate and usually ends with a request for more rounds rather than a decision. Each extra round costs time, budget, and momentum, and more options don’t lower the risk.
A recommended direction with the reasoning and evidence behind it. Show the alternatives briefly as the thinking you did, but ask the room to judge a recommendation, not assemble one. A menu asks the room to design, a recommendation asks it to decide.
Holding a production-real comp shifts the question from personal preference to “is this better than what we have against our criteria,” which is a decision a room can actually resolve. It also settles the color, finish, and structure questions a slide leaves open, so the meeting stops deferring.
It’s less risky than a menu. About 62% of redesigns fail to lift sales (Designalytics), and directions chosen on preference from a screen are prime candidates. A single recommendation, proven physically against the current pack, is the more defensible call, not the riskier one.