7 Rules For Giving And Receiving FEEDBACK
😍 From Episode 2 of Design Hangout
Today, I would like to share with you 7 rules for giving and receiving feedback that I use in my design practice and that I’ve noticed improved the quality of collaboration and outcomes.
Those rules will be useful for designers but they are universal so if you’re not a designer, please stick around since you’ll benefit from them as well.
There is no collaboration without feedback ☝️
Feedback is an essential part not only of the design process but also in general of the collaboration. There is no collaboration without feedback.
Over time, receiving feedback about my designs became my favorite part of working on design projects.
I’ve noticed that it allows me to really move forward and that without it, I can’t get to the best solution 😬
I see it this way: my design is an initial idea, a proposition on how to solve a problem. It is basically a conversation starter.
I produce a tangible visualization to get the creative juices flowing for myself and for my team. Next, it’s time for the important part — everyone needs to contribute their point of view, notice the shortcomings, and share alternative ideas.
I welcome tension when discussing ideas and it’s okay if the design changes completely. This is exactly why we ask for feedback.
If you share your work and your team has absolutely nothing to say every single time, it’s a sign that something is really off ❌
👩💻 Seeking feedback (Rules 1–3)
The first 3 rules connect to seeking feedback. If you ask for review skillfully, you’ll get better quality feedback, and you will avoid spending time addressing irrelevant comments.
Rule 1: Provide context 🔖
Every time you share your work, imagine that you’re showing the project to someone who has never heard about it and has no context whatsoever. You need to explain the following:
- What is the specific problem you’re solving 🤔 and why is it important to solve it?
- What are the goals 🎯 of the project or what success looks like?
- Who is this solution designed for 👯♀️— Does it address a particular persona or all the users of your product?
- What were the constraints 🧐 you needed to consider, and how they have influenced the design? For example, some technical limitations or design debt.
- What were the alternative solutions 🧪 you’ve considered and why you’ve chosen not to develop them further?
This is extremely useful since usually people will ask about, or propose alternative solutions when leaving feedback.
Addressing the retrospectively is really time-consuming and frustrating. Saying ‘I thought about it before, and you’re all wrong’ is difficult for everyone involved.
Mention the solutions you expect reviewers to come up with upfront and briefly discuss why they were rejected.
🙋♀ ️Rule 2: Explain what kind of feedback you’re seeking
When asking for a review, you need to clearly explain the following:
- 🚀 Your expectations (type of feedback) — Specifically state if you’re looking for a detailed review, choosing one of two approaches, a green light, a feasibility check, or gut feeling comments.
- Stage of the project 🗺 — Are you just exploring ideas in low-fidelity, or it’s the last final design review?
- Which parts of the design to focus on 👌— List the areas and problems you want reviewers to focus on in particular.
- 📍 Where to leave feedback — You may be asking for feedback via email or on Slack, but you want people to go to Figma and comment there directly. Be very clear about it.
It would be a nightmare if you had two separate spaces you need to pay attention to and go back and forth between, talk to people to move them to one place and copy feedback to a proper location.
👌 Rule 3: Manage expectations
The objective for you, except for getting great feedback, is to make sure that everyone sees value in reviewing your work.
People who spend their time and focus on giving you advice want to feel heard and see that their opinion matters. You need to manage expectations to balance hearing everyone’s voice with making good decisions in a timely manner.
- Timebox ⏰ — Make it clear what the deadline is for giving feedback. It will allow people to not only fit it within their schedules but, more importantly, it will set the boundaries.
You can openly state that any feedback left after the deadline will not be taken into consideration since the team will be moving forward to the next phase of the project.
- All feedback will be read, but not all feedback will be implemented 👩💻— Reply and thank people for all the comments. At the same time, warn them that you are the decision-maker and you will select what changes to make in the project.
- ❌ No design by committee — You need to avoid, so called, design by committee, where you need to get 100% agreement from every reviewer and team member. This would be impossible, and you’d spend weeks on back-and-forth in the comments.
Of course, you can’t go entirely against what your team thinks. That’s not the point.
The point is that if one person or two people would like to see a completely different approach implemented, you don’t have to convince them otherwise. It’s enough that you have the support of the main stakeholders and the majority of your team.
Giving feedback (Rules 4–7) ⭐️
Now, let’s come back to the remaining 4 rules. We now will switch the point of view, and see the review process as a person who provides feedback.
I personally love giving feedback on designs. It’s really easy and satisfying for me since the Designer had already done all the heavy lifting of coming up with the first solution, and now we can collaborate to improve it.
🎯 Rule 4: Focus on the feedback they’re seeking
If the person asking for feedback did their homework, you should clearly know what kind of review they need for you.
Don’t go outside of it too much. Other feedback may be valuable but should be separated into another thread, or you should ask if it would be useful at all.
If you’re not sure about what kind of feedback they are looking for, ask them to specify. Going over the top with unnecessary comments will just waste your and their time.
Rule 5: Explain the ‘Why’ ✍️
Always explain where your feedback is coming from — is based on a gut feeling, personal preference, research, data, or your good practices.
Avoid giving feedback ‘I don’t know why but it doesn’t feel right’ or ‘There is just something off about it’. It’s completely useless. Specify what seems to be a problem and where you’re coming from.
Rule 6: Propose an alternative, if possible 🚀
I personally also like when people provide an alternative solution, even though I don’t feel obligated to use it. It sometimes clarifies feedback and sometimes just gives you this push you need to get started on a better idea.
Many people say that feedback should be just ‘why’ not ‘how’, but I disagree.
I don’t mind if Designers even mockup an alternative, but if you don’t know the person that well, it is better to ask if they don’t mind you doing it.
😳 Rule 7: Focus on the work, not the person
Never ever critique the individual. You can’t say things like ‘You always make text too small’ or ‘Can you finally read the documentation?’.
Reviewers should focus on work, and work only. If you have any other feedback you’d like to share with the person, do it privately.
If you attack a person, you’ll break the trust, and they will come back to you for advice again.
Final thoughts
Mastering the art of giving and receiving feedback is one of the most important things you can do for a successful Design career.
Implementing those 7 rules and helping your Team implement them in their daily work, will help you achieve amazing results and build a strong culture of respect and collaboration 👏
If you have any questions or comments about the content, please leave a comment or reach out to me at alicja@outdraw.design
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