How to give empowering feedback

Utilizing the 3-step critique sandwich

Some of us have been there, presenting our work to others, either proudly sharing it, or begrudgingly sharing it because we know it needs some help. There’s a huge amount of vulnerability when putting your work out there.

I want all of us to think about it first from that point of view. This is probably the best thing to remember when you are the one giving feedback.

Consider your audience and think of when you’ve asked for feedback yourself

If your directing your feedback to a designer, who has spent months working through different variations, it’s important to recognize the amount of work that they’ve put into their design. This is why it’s important to do the first step of feedback, the bottom of the sandwich. I love this analogy, because it’s simple. Lets breakdown the 3-step critique sandwich.

The bottom piece of bread

Compliment and acknowledge

1. A designer reaches out to you and asks for your feedback on a design. They give you a brief summary of the project, and the goal.
2. Your gut reaction to seeing the design might be to think: “Wow, this is rough and there’s a lot of work to be done.”
3. After the initial reaction try and think: “Awesome! I see a bunch of ways that the design can be improved.”
4. You might respond and say to the designer, “This is a great start! I see how you’re considering the learnings of your user, by doing XYZ.”

This shows the designer that you are acknowledging and respecting the work they’ve put in.

The inside of the sandwich

Critique and question

1. Here’s where you can dive into the feelings you may have had initially. You might offer up some suggestions of how to improve the design. Maybe, “The composition is busy and the hierarchy isn’t clear. Where should I be looking first?”
2. Or maybe, “The text is too small and lacks contrast”. It’s good to give specific feedback about fundamentals, because we all need the reminder sometimes.
3. Then maybe you’re wondering, “Why did the designer put this button way up here? Isn’t that the call-to-action button? Shouldn’t that be lower on the page after the information?”

This is where it’s good for you to ask questions. Learn from the designer, who’s spent months on this project learning about the user. Ask what the reasoning is behind their decision. There may be a good reason that you hadn’t even considered.

The top piece of the sandwich

Encourage

1. After giving your critiques it’s good to mention the positive elements of the design that are working well. Maybe, “The imagery or color scheme is exactly right for achieving your goal.”
2. Bring back the goals of the project, and how the designer is on track to achieving them with a few adjustments. And basically end with, “Keep at it!” Because who doesn’t benefit from a little bit of encouragement?

Don’t forget the sandwich!