ARTICLE SUMMARY: Feedback is a double edged sword, some designers look for it, others avoid it, and a few downright hate it. Some designers feel like feedback is a criticism of their work. Others value their autonomy and may worry that too much feedback will water down their ideas or force them into compromises they feel will hurt the project’s success.
What might be an even bigger problem is how feedback is given, especially by stakeholders or clients. Their vague statements without context waste time and energy as teams go in circles trying to figure out what that feedback actually means.
“How to Give Feedback That Actually Helps the Design” by Afterglow is a deep dive into the problems caused by poor feedback, and how to avoid those problems. A few key points looked at are,
- Why “Make It Bigger/Different/Better” Isn’t Helpful
- Focus on the Problem, Not the Prescription
- How to Give Constructive, Strategic Feedback
Statements like “make it pop” or “jazz it up” do little to solve the underlying problem that led the client to say them in the first place. The real skill lies in asking the right questions to uncover what the client actually wants to achieve.
The goal of this article is to help designers and clients speak the same language, eliminating confusion and keeping everyone moving in the same direction as efficiently as possible.
This is a great and informative article for anyone in the design field. Let us know what you think in the comments.
