Source: Sandian She (Design Speaks)
As designers, we find plenty of useless communication in daily work, especially when people offer gut-feel judgements on a design scheme: everyone fancies their taste is heavenly and leads first-class design trends, and some opinions come pressed down from the top, where the boss’s one sentence means the designer’s ten lines of tears, changed whether or not it should be. Facing pointers from non-professionals, how should designers respond? And how should those non-professionals ask questions as professionally as possible?
Giving constructive, targeted evaluations of design work is genuinely hard, but this skill matters to every designer, indeed to every colleague who works with designers.
As long as we put in full effort, the final result will certainly beat the first draft. At work, face the problem with professional means, and never drag too much personal emotion into it. As the slogan on the wall of Miwei Media says: speaking directly is an ability, and also a responsibility.
1. Understand the background; focus on the core business problem
When evaluating a design, do not simply say I feel, I like or I dislike; that solves nothing, and many designers find such feedback off-putting. What we should dig into: do you understand the business goals, the strategy by which the business brings value to target users and how it earns profit? Are you clear on the design goals, the design strategy by which the designer brings users value and reaches the business goals? Do you have a global view: is this scheme the result under the existing technical limits, user-cognition constraints, timelines and many other conditions? Without these, commenting directly that the interface colour is ugly, the layout unreasonable or the look not high-end is quite irresponsible. Please do not play the emperor behind the designer’s back, issuing judgments from the throne.
2. Learning to ask matters more than raising problems
Questions help designers and business sides communicate and pass information better, but keep gut-feel judgements out of the questions and think rationally instead. Do not point at something and say this button is too big; ask why did you choose this size for the button? That way you learn more background and the reasons behind each design detail, and feel that the designer is professional rather than acting on a whim.
Persuasion psychology holds an iron law: nobody likes being changed. When you point fingers at my design, you prove I may be wrong, and to defend my work I will resist irrationally. Emotional expression only escalates mutual conflict; rational expression and questioning make people willing to talk. So learning to ask matters more than raising problems.
3. Avoid subjectivity; make feedback clear and specific
The evaluator’s taste does not matter to the design scheme and should not be the discussion’s focus. When you catch yourself saying I feel, imagine the meme: it is not what you think that matters, it is what I think. And do not say I just personally dislike it, but ultimately it is up to you designers. Frankly, hearing that enrages me every time: you have not thought through why it is unsuitable, so what are you telling me for, opposing for opposition’s sake? Next time you meet a demand-side full of empty words, reply directly: if you cannot recommend a better or different design, say nothing and do not waste each other’s time. Also, suggestions must be clear, specific and feasible. If the designer misreads your meaning, that may be worse than saying nothing, because matters may develop in the opposite direction; articulating your points in detail is itself a workplace communication skill.
Practise it yourself
First, tell apart the feedback that is useful from what is merely the speaker’s subjective feeling; absorb the useful and take notes. Cool your emotions first, do not rush to revise the scheme, and think more about flow and path problems. Many designers, out of years of habit, treat others’ comments, especially from experienced designers or leaders, as action guides, adopting and implementing their ideas without careful thought. That easily turns you into a marionette, and over time you entirely lose the creativity and reflection a designer should have.
Design is an exploration balancing aesthetics with function, user problems with business. The designer’s scheme balances users, company and interests; no decision is forever correct.
Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone may have reasons behind their view, only from a different angle. Do not fixate on one detail or cling to one particular scheme. Raise the horizon and dimensions of your thinking, and learn to refuse meaningless feedback and evaluation.
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