Giving Useful Feedback to a Product Designer
Rocco Marinaccio
Product Designer
7 min read
Introduction
Have you ever been told that your design feedback is too subjective or overly prescriptive? Or maybe your words missed the mark? You’re not alone. Giving great feedback is a challenging skill that’s both an art and a science. In this guide, we’ll explore practical ways you can provide objective and actionable feedback to product designers. Ultimately, you want your designers to feel confident, motivated and empowered with next steps, which should help reduce design cycles, accelerate goal alignment, and enhance the overall quality of output.
Remember the 10/50/90 rule
This rule-of-thumb respects the amount of progress made and level of fidelity shared so that feedback is relevant, effective and valuable.
Clay Court Photo by Allan Rolim on Unsplash
Below are key focus areas to consider at each stage of a project:
10% — Strategic direction and vision, user and business goals, discovery findings (qual/quant data), outcomes, how success will be measured, etc.
50% — Primary flows, visual explorations, usability, technical feasibility, etc.
90% — Edge cases, visual refinements, copy, etc.
Note: While it’s beneficial to keep the above in mind, a product designer should always specify the type of feedback they’re looking for (or aren’t looking for), in order to guide the conversation.
Be objective, not subjective
Since design is visual, it can evoke all kinds of emotional reactions. When that occurs, we can get carried away with subjective feedback influenced by personal feelings, tastes or preconceived notions. But that’s not constructive for a designer. Product design is not art. It’s the result of many deliberate decisions aimed at solving a problem. Objective feedback is:
Framed in light of user and business goals
Based on fundamental and/or team-based design principles
Considerate of patterns and conventions that are universal, platform-specific, and applicable to your design system
Rooted in the psychology of design and laws of UX
Informed by product analytics, user research, and CX insights
Mindful of business realities and technical constraints
Assign levels of importance to feedback
When feedback is shared by a stakeholder or senior-level designer, the level of importance or consideration can be unclear for a product designer if not specified. You’re probably thinking: “We’ll every piece of feedback shared by a leader is valuable, isn’t it?” Of course not. We’ve all bad ideas or suggestions. Part of the product designer’s responsibility is to assess and weigh the quality of feedback received. Unless the level of importance is stated or asked, a product designer will simply evaluate the person’s confidence level, area of expertise and conviction. As a consequence, ambiguity around importance can lead to unaddressed comments or unexplored directions. This can be frustrating, especially when a product designer fails to follow-up or share why the feedback was omitted or that they ultimately decided on a different direction.
One way to assign levels of importance to feedback is by adopting “flashtags,” a concept created at HubSpot by co-founder and CEO Dharmesh Shah.
A “flashtag” is essentially a hashtag you append to your feedback (whether in Slack or conversation) to convey the degree to which you are willing to die on that hill, otherwise referred to as your “Hill Dying Status”
Photo by Figma on Figma Blog
Describe problems, not solutions
The way you articulate feedback has a profound effect on the person receiving it. As such, it’s more effective to describe problems by asking questions.
When feedback is prescribed or dictated, it doesn’t help a designer learn and grow. Instead of providing the “how,” provide the “why”. This approach facilitates an open and collaborative dialogue.
Instead of saying: “You should change the background color to black and make the text white. That will improve readability.”
Say: “The text is hard to read. Does the color contrast pass accessibility guidelines?”
In the first example, you’re offering a specific solution, which might not be the most appropriate or creative way to address the problem. In the second example, you’re describing the problem (poor contrast affecting readability) without prescribing a specific solution. This allows the designer to determine the best course of action based on your feedback.
Be clear and specific
Avoid vague feedback or empty statements that aren’t specific or actionable.
Instead of saying: “I feel like this icon should pop more…”
Say: “Is there a reason why the visual prominence of this icon differs from the others used in our system? At first glance, it appears disabled.”
Ask clarifying questions
If something is unclear or confusing to you, you’re probably not the only one in the room feeling this way. Sometimes a product designer didn’t provide enough context or the proposed designs weren’t articulated clearly. Before making assumptions, ask clarifying questions to ensure a mutual understanding exists.
Below are 7 approaches you can take:
The “5 Whys”: Asking “why” (a lot) is a great way to identify the root cause of any problem or underlying issue behind a decision.
Open-Ended Approach: “Could you walk me through your thought process behind this design decision?”
Specific Inquiry: “What were your primary considerations when choosing this button combination?”
Request for Rationale: “Can you explain the reasoning behind the layout choice in this section?”
Concern Clarification: “I noticed the sign-up flow contained 10 steps. Could you elaborate on how you landed on these?”
Comparative Question: “How does this design align with the project objectives and goals we discussed earlier?”
Future Considerations: “Could you share your vision for how users might interact with this feature in future iterations?”
Direct feedback at the work, not designer
A design review is not about badgering the designer or pushing them to justify every little decision they made. Feedback should be constructive, not overly critical. Reviews should leave designers feeling inspired, challenged, and empowered, not defeated.
Instead of Saying: “Why in the world did you think that was a good idea?”
Say: “Can you explain the rationale behind adding this interaction?”
Ensure feedback is ethical
Avoid suggesting deceptive UX patterns (sometimes referred to as “dark patterns”). According to the UX Design Institute, a deceptive pattern is:
“a manipulation tactic that subtly encourages users to perform a specific action that only benefits the company (rather than the user) and uses deception as a tool for conversion.”
Deceptive UX patterns are exploitative, can damage your brand’s reputation, and they go against good UX principles.
Some examples include: creating false scarcity, including hidden costs, confirmshaming, fake FOMO, and much more. To learn about these in more detail, check out Nielsen Norman Group’s article on Deceptive Patterns in UX: How to Recognize and Avoid Them or deceptive.design.
Photo Credit: Hackernoon: Example of ‘Confirmshaming’
In response to these manipulation tactics, 3 US States (California, Colorado and Connecticut) have passed legislation to make deceptive UX patterns illegal.
According to Growth·Design’s psychology masterclass, humane products should respect 3 fundamental principles:
They value our attention
Save us time
Reflect human values
Nir Eyal, the bestselling author of “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products”, has also proposed two quick tests you can conduct to ensure your feedback is ethical:
Regret Test
Would our users’ behavior change if they were privy to the same information as our product team?
If the answer is yes, you might want to reconsider your suggestion. Also, double-check with the Manipulation Matrix to see which quadrant your idea falls under.
Designed by Nir Eyal, author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
2. The “Black Mirror” Test
Picture a scenario where your product becomes a constant fixture in everyone’s daily lives. Does it end well for society?
When we solve one problem, we can end up creating an even worse one that we may not anticipate or control, so consider the impact of second and third-order effects.
Photo Credit: growth.design/course
Avoid asking a designer to blindly copy a competitor
While product designers understand the importance of a competitive analysis, asking to blindly copy a feature from a competitor presents several challenges:
You don’t truly know what’s working for them and what’s not
Their users may have different mental models and behaviours
Your budget size, resources and constraints likely differ
You’re less inclined to create something unique and differentiated that is better
Trust the process
Design is a non-linear process and creative solutions don’t always strike like lightning. Sometimes things need time to marinate and several rounds of revision. Remember to respect one’s craft and the time and effort poured into it. Show the product designer you trust they’ll arrive at the best solution through your body language, tone of voice, and positive outlook.
If you are losing trust in a product designer due to their inability to meet or exceed expectations, then have a chat with their design manager about performance.
Be deliberate and intentional
If you don’t have anything meaningful to contribute in the moment, that’s okay. Feedback should be a continuous loop and ongoing conversation.
Closing thoughts
With these strategies and tips in mind, I believe that you’ll become a sought-after participant in the design review process. Product development is a team sport, and effective communication is invaluable from non-designers in shaping the success of an experience or product.
As Stephen R. Covey (renowned author, speaker, and educator known for his book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”) puts it:
“If you want better outputs, focus on improving inputs.”
