Business leaders don’t care about design (and that’s a good thing)

Have you ever asked yourself: “Why doesn’t this company care about great design?” or “How can design get a seat at the table?”

It’s frustrating when work doesn’t resonate with decision makers. To feel stakeholders disengage during discussions about the fine details of an interaction or a design language. We care deeply and we want others to care too.

The easy assumption is that leaders just don’t get it, and that’s why they don’t back our ideas. But true or not, assuming ignorance doesn’t help persuade anyone about the merits of a solution.

They don't care like you do.

Take a deep breath. This may be hard to hear. Business leaders don’t really care about design, and that’s a good thing.

Their job is to make strategic decisions that grow and sustain the business, not to obsess over the design like you do. Once they understand the context, they need to trust you with the details.

Very few companies exist to do great design for its own sake.

Design exists to serve business goals — it’s a means to an end, an enabler of success and growth.

So if we want support, we can’t lean on design theory, best-practice diagrams, or a Nielsen Norman blog post because that’s not what helps them to make decisions.

We have to connect the work to the choices leaders actually face.

So, what do they actually CARES about?

Even the most design-conscious leader will look at proposals through a few simple lenses:

How much will it cost?

How much effort will it take?

Why this, and not something else?

How will it help our business?

All of these questions boil down to simple leavers of commercial success: Cost, Acquisition, Retention, Engagement and Satisfaction — or CARES.

Risk-averse decision makers won’t back design changes unless they clearly move one or more of these levers. This is why designers are hired: to help serve and keep as many happy customers as possible — solving real problems at the lowest cost, to grow the business.

Show that you CARES

If we want stakeholders to back new features or UX improvements, our proposals should lead with how they move metrics that matter:

"Usability testing uncovered three blockers in checkout. Fixing them now could save ~€50k in support costs per year."

"Simplifying sign-up from six steps to three could lift conversion rates by 12%, based on patterns we’ve seen in our funnel analysis."

"Customers who complete onboarding within the first week are 40% more likely to renew. We can redesign the flow to shorten time-to-value by half."

“A scalable design system would cut duplicate design and dev work in half, reducing build costs by ~15% and helping us ship new features weeks faster.”

"Introducing personalised recommendations is projected to increase repeat visits by 20%."

"Accessibility improvements in navigation will open the product to an estimated 10-15% more of our market and reduce frustrations for existing users."

Even rough estimates like these help connect design changes directly to success metrics and company goals. That’s the common ground where priorities, scope, and resources get negotiated.

Grounding your proposals in real business assumptions makes your case far more compelling. Designers don’t always have these numbers to hand — but your partners in product, data, sales, or finance probably does or can help you find out.

Get to persuasive

Focus on outcomes first. That’s where you’ll find common ground with decision makers — at the intersection of user needs and business goals.

Don’t try to go it alone. Ask your manager, product partners, sales, finance, or data colleagues. Be clear about what you want to know, and why it matters.

How does our company make money?

What are this quarter’s priorities, and what’s coming next?

Which metrics matter most right now?

How are we tracking them?

What are the biggest business problems to solve?

Why are they critical?

If no one can answer, that’s a signal. Point out that clarity on goals helps you do better design, and push to get it written down somewhere and socialised with the teams if you can.

What will leaders want to see and hear the next time you need their support? Start your conversations, documents, and decks with those points.

Get uncomfortable

Commercial topics may not feel natural for designers, but they’re essential for building trust, earning influence, and having real impact.

It takes time and patience to learn this new language, but every conversation is a chance to practise. Start by reframing your work in terms of CARES, and back it up with insights from colleagues who know the numbers.

The next time you present a design proposal, don’t just show the craft — show the impact. That’s how design gets heard, supported, and acted on.