There’s a lot to make sense of!

Receiving good design feedback 🗣️

On the Marqeta experience team, we are design thinkers. We solve a lot of difficult, new, fun problems each and every day. A huge piece of solving problems optimally means getting good feedback from the right people.

So how do we uncover good feedback from our collaborators? More specifically— how do we get to the root of problems so that we can best solve them?

What is good design feedback?

Before diving into the how, it’s probably advantageous to define what good feedback is to a designer:

1. The feedback is actionable — This means that a particular concern has a means of getting resolved. Oftentimes feedback will be subjective and unactionable at first. Part of a designer’s job is to determine the root cause of that unactionable feedback, and make it actionable.

Example: If somebody says “I don’t know what that button does”, you can make the issue actionable by defining possible solutions e.g. changing the button’s text, placement, or color.

2. The feedback reveals something the designer overlooked — Some of the best feedback to receive is a consideration you didn’t think of. This could be a technical limitation, essential piece of functionality, or even a typo 😬. As designers spend more and more time presenting designs in their career, they develop a “mental bank” of these considerations to refer to in projects to come.

Example: You pitch a CSS 3D animated object as an illustrative device, but a developer tells you that Internet Explorer 11 (which the company might still support) doesn’t support that spec. You then brainstorm steps to deal with the degradation of that particular feature as it hits unsupported browsers.

3. The feedback is directed towards the work, not the designer — One of the biggest challenges of being a designer is ego. Designers can be shaken emotionally by feedback if it is presented as a personal critique. Feedback is easier to manage if comments are made and received in a way that separates the designer from their work.

Example: You show a design that heavily relies on the color orange. But, one of your stakeholders doesn’t like orange! Rather than chastise you for your blatant use of their least favorite color, they simply comment that looking at the interface, there seems to be a lot of orange and it feels overwhelming to them. You can then focus on interpreting that feedback confidently.

Explore, ideate, solve, repeat.

How to set yourself up for good design feedback

There are many considerations to prep for before sharing designs with a group of people, each of which can help you get the feedback you seek:

1. Set up the problem and solution clearly. Know that your audience is not you — they do not have the background or awareness that you have. Before showing the design, establish the project’s problem statement and discuss the hypothesis that has led to the proposed solution. Before proceeding, make sure these statements are understood by the audience.
2. Have a reason for every single decision in your design. As you create designs, you should be thinking critically about the why for each decision you make. That means everything! This includes layout, color, typography, navigation, state, user flow, photography, etc. Not only does this prepare you for scrutiny, but it also forces you to create fully fleshed out experiences.
3. Make copies as you explore ideas. As you design in Sketch, Invision, Figma, or whatever — don’t just iterate over the same artboard. Keep making copies as you explore new ideas. That way, if somebody asks if you had thought about another way of doing things, you can confidently say “YES!”, and walk them through the other examples of that implementation, and explain why you decided against it.
4. Reduce variables you don’t want comments on. If you don’t want somebody to bring up color, make your designs grayscale. If you don’t want somebody to comment on text, use some sort of non-intrusive placeholder. If you want feedback on a specific feature, emphasize it or present it separately. Designers have the power to visually set the stage to frame conversation.
5. Set ground rules before a project or session. Communicate! Explain why you are presenting something in the fidelity that you are. Let everyone know you will be iterating, and that it’s okay that not everything is perfect at that moment. Set the tone as a safe space for open communication. Emphasize that everybody’s ideas and feedback are being considered. Remind your peers that you are solving problems together.
6. Listen. It can feel natural to get defensive of your designs, but the bias should instead be towards information gathering. Try to let your guard down and fully absorb ideas you receive.
7. Keep notes. Many of your design decisions will be a result of previous meetings. Keep them documented so you can refer to conversations and remind the group of how things have evolved.
8. Ask for feedback on the process. It’s good to end feedback sessions with the question “is this working for everybody?”. Folks can feel backed into a corner if you rigidly set rules, so it’s beneficial to ensure the process makes everyone feel empowered to participate.
9. Invite the right people. Ensure that, to the best of your ability, all vital stakeholders are included in this feedback process from start to finish. This probably includes at least you, a product manager, a software engineer, and users of your product (both internal employees and folks in the wild).
10. Don’t treat all feedback as prescriptive. After designing an interface from the ground up, you probably have a certain sensitivity to the carefully crafted dance of items on the screen. As you receive feedback, your mind will naturally run wild with the ramifications. (“Well if that label gets smaller I have to move that, that, and that! And then the hierarchy will be off, and then I have to update the design library…”). As such, it’s important to internalize that not all suggestions need to be implemented. This classic video shows what can happen when you design by committee. Your job is to address feedback in a way you feel is optimal and encompassing.

Most importantly, relax! Pixels are not permanent when you’re iterating (or ever, really). You have the ability to fix any and all problems that are revealed. Don’t let feedback bog you down — treat it as a wonderful opportunity to optimize your designs, grow as a designer, and learn more about your team and users’ considerations.

Happy Designing!