Design feedback can sometimes be as vague as “I just don’t like it.” Here are a couple tactics to use in a design collaboration session to guide more useful critique.
1. The Three-Question Rule
Dustin Curtis had the same problem with vague feedback as the rest of us, so he developed an interesting but helpful system: ask the critic three questions.
The three questions themselves don’t matter, they’re just a vehicle for having the critic dive deeper into their own opinion. It’s also a good method for sifting out ingenuine criticisms from the potentially helpful ones.
2. “Give it Five Minutes”
As Basecamp CEO Jason Fried explains, he used to be a “hothead” until he learned to wait five minutes, in both giving and taking criticism. What it boils down to is having time to think and process the information. Often, our immediate responses are to fight back if we’re attacked, but criticism isn’t always an attack.
It’s best to take a moment to collect your thoughts before going on the defensive. With some thoughtful consideration, you may find the feedback is actually just the advice you needed.
3. Clarify the Context of the Fidelity
You can’t gauge high-end graphics or advanced usability with a lo-fi prototype. It’s your responsibility to ensure stakeholders know this before you show them an in-progress design.
Clarify what participants should be looking out for and what’s not yet ready (but will be built later). Then, ask for feedback related to user goals. Instead of a completely open-ended question like “What do you think?”, try a more focused question like “How well does this prototype help users find apartments based on their needs?
This saves both of you time on irrelevant comments about visual design when you care more about the basic usability and task flow.
Additional Reading
For more practical everyday UX advice, check out The Field Guide to UX Strategy. Written by designer and author Robert Hoekman Jr., the no-BS guide draws from his 15 years of experience with companies like Intuit, Rackspace, Dodge, and others.
Photo credit: Pixel Parlor
