Last week on tutti.ch (were I work currently) I’ve had a meeting for sharing my proposal for a landing page. I’ve spent several hours selecting the approach, structuring the content, choosing the images, researching ideas, checking contrast, alignments and how the Call-to-action could be better positioned in different viewports.
Ok, then came the time of the meeting. I have shared the proposal, explained the approach and my first feedback from a Front-End Developer was that the landing page didn’t have enough colors. My second feedback was that the UX for the page was not so good.
The first reaction of a Designer would be: “Front-Enders shouldn’t care about colours” or “What the f**k are you talking about UX?” but I think it’s a great opportunity for practicing something that I have learned after so many years as a Designer:
EVERY FEEDBACK IS TRUE AND VALUABLE – Change my mind.
Why? The feedback shows the struggle or impression of that particular user. We need to take this in consideration in our Designs. Probably that opinion could be the same of thousand other users. If somebody says “You Design sucks”, ask them why they think this and try to get to the reason with the precision of a scientist because that’s what we should do. Don’t be reactive. Don’t let your emotions do the job you should be doing. Be proactive and go behind the answers.
And how to answer to these kind of feedback? My approach:
My answer was exactly: “Sure, we can find a better solution together”. And we did it.
And that is, believe it or not, a game changer. You are inviting the feedback giver to think about what would solve that particular question together with you. If you read the article I wrote about clashes between Designers and Developers, you will see the same affirmation of this very post: Collaboration is the key to a well designed project.
- Don’t be afraid of not having the answers in the very moment somebody asks;
- Don’t be afraid to be wrong and going back;
- Don’t be afraid of failing;
- Don’t be afraid of feedback because they are just exactly what you need in order to make a bullet-proof Design piece.
I want to add here that this is not an easy thing to do. Many times we don’t have the nerves, patience or will to take a negative feedback in a good way, but we should aim for it. We need to master this skill.
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Image from: Morgan Basham on Unsplash