The difficult art of giving feedback

“I don’t like it. I would do it differently.” How often do you hear this? How many times have you had to defend your choices to other people? How many times have you as a developer heard that the code is ugly, and somebody could do it better? It happens to people who work in creative professions every day — devs, designers, inventors. A huge part of their work is giving and receiving feedback. The question is, what’s the best way to share your opinion with people who show you their work?

What’s productive feedback?

The golden rule is simple — good feedback should allow the other person to make proper decisions, and changes as a consequence. It should be an analysis with advantages and disadvantages of the design based on our experience, design principles, and the problem which is to be solved. Comments like “I don’t like that,” or “I would do it differently. Wait, I’ll show you,” won’t help a lot, although don’t be offended if somebody tells you so. It’s just an opinion of the work, not you! Individual tastes always depend on the person.

We are not in the target group, we don’t know if our users have the same feelings as we do. Designers make decisions, but most of all they are based on specific knowledge and experience.

Different solutions may be equal

There are as many ideas as there are people. The same regards design. There are many solutions for one problem.

The important thing is to ask yourself if the project answers the user’s (design) problem, and if the design proposition fits the goal we are trying to achieve. So remember — find out what the goal behind somebody’s work is at the beginning, and keep it in mind when giving feedback! It’s like choosing clothes for a special dinner. Some men wear black suits, others choose dark blue or checkered.Women will choose shorter or long dresses. They are different outfits, but still meet the goal — they all have good clothes for a special occasion.

Don’ts

· I just don’t like it

· Nice, but….

· I imagined it differently

· Can we make it green?

· Well, it doesn’t matter…

Why are these so bad? Because they refer to personal preferences, not usability test results, design principles, conversion rates, facts, etc. A person who receives this kind of feedback feels attacked. Of course, you can say that if you tell somebody that you would do it another way, it is not criticizing.

Do’s

Make it regular

Don’t wait too long to give feedback. It’s better to discuss small parts of your work than a big bunch of different designs. It saves time for you and the other person.

Ask about reasons for decisions and remember the context and requirements

Remember the problem the other person was going to solve, and decide if the design solves it and makes the user’s life simpler.

Ask more, say less

Open questions are always better. They give the opportunity to explain the decisions behind the choices.

Limit yourself and don’t give feedback to everything you see — ask what the other person needs your opinion on

Give feedback to only a few issues. Otherwise somebody may feel that everything that he has done is being criticized and he wasted time doing so many things which still need to be improved.

Find and outline the good things

Don’t forget about the advantages of the design you are giving feedback on. It’s easy to miss them and as a result give the design a different direction or lead to a redesign based on comments which refer to things which should be improved. Begin with positive feedback. The other person won’t feel that you notice only the things which need improvement.

Stay neutral and don’t let your emotions get carried away

Don’t ever let your emotions play first fiddle! If you really don’t like the design and you think it’s really horrible, just calm down, drink a cup of tea, meditate, or do some yoga — just don’t give the feedback when you feel you will explode with emotions. It always ends badly.

Note and prioritize

A good way to give feedback is to note all opinions on sticky notes (remember — one on one) and mark the most important ones. Use the “dots method” and rate what should be improved at the first glance.

Refer to your knowledge and experience, not emotions

Your knowledge and experience are your base. Be a specialist, a scientist who analyzes a specific case.

If you try to stick to all these rules, you will get rid of giving feedback based on your feelings. That’s the point, because giving feedback effectively isn’t criticizing and finding bad things. It should be finding a good side of the design, analyzing what may be improved, and finding a compromise.

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