Design feedback has one major role: to provide useful insights that enable the design to be better. We know we’ve reached the right design when it satisfies user needs, achieves business goals, and responds correctly to the brief.

Working in a creative field means our projects often get under our skin. We connect to our work on a personal level, which is why feedback must be handled with care, empathy, and structure.

Critique vs. Criticism

Understanding the difference between these two is the first step toward a healthy design culture.

☝ Key Insight: Critique improves the design; criticism belittles the designer.

Mastering Receipt: How to Get Feedback

1. Ask for Advice, Not Critique

Terminology matters. By asking for "advice" instead of "critique" or "feedback," you automatically shift the giver's position from a judge to a helper. This sets a collaborative tone where both sides are equals sharing a goal.

2. Listen to Understand, Not to Respond

Resist the urge to interrupt or defend your work while receiving feedback. Even if you're sure you're right, simply listening can eventually lead to a better conversation. Try to understand the why behind their comments before formulating a reply.

3. Control Your Emotions

It’s okay to pause, breathe, or take a sip of water. These small physical resets take your immediate defensive reaction down and keep you open to the message. Separating your ego from your work is a muscle you have to train.

4. Be Persistent

Don’t accept an environment where you aren’t getting feedback. If your team isn't naturally communicative, be the one to foster it. Change the venue—sometimes a coffee chat or a walk can make the process more relaxed and genuine.

5. Prioritize the Relevant

You might leave a review with 50 notes. You aren't expected to solve all of them immediately. Have the self-confidence to prioritize the things that truly matter and compromise on the rest.

Mastering Delivery: How to Give Feedback

1. Connect Back to the Brief

Design feedback isn't about personal preference. Your role is to guide the designer toward the project's initial requirements. Frame your points around user needs and business goals.

• Instead of: "I don't like this color."
• Try: "Does this color palette align with the brand's goal of appearing accessible to seniors?"

2. Lead with Unbiased Questions

Questions help your peers organize their thoughts and explain their decisions. This process often sparks new ideas that neither of you had considered.

• "What was the user's journey before arriving at this screen?"
• "What were you trying to achieve by designing this button differently?"

3. Avoid Problem Solving

As a feedback-giver, your task is not to give concrete solutions. Suggestions and guiding questions help the designer develop their own skills and learn to handle similar roadblocks in the future.

4. Trust Your Colleagues

Avoid "babysitting" or double-checking every move. Believe in their expertise. A trusting environment is where designers flourish most.

A Structured Framework: Liz Lerman’s CRP

For deeper, more complex reviews, utilize Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process (CRP). It provides a four-step dialogue that keeps the designer in control of the feedback they receive.

1. Statements of Meaning: Responders share what was meaningful, evocative, or interesting about the work. No judgments, just observations.
2. Designer as Questioner: The designer asks specific questions about the work. Responders answer those specific questions without offering unsolicited advice.
3. Neutral Questions: Responders ask factual questions without embedded opinions. ("What was the intention behind this layout?" instead of "Why is it so cluttered?")
4. Opinion Time: Responders offer opinions only after requesting permission. ("I have an opinion on X; would you like to hear it?")

Reading List

• Wix Playground: Creating a Positive Work Environment
• Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process
• Interaction Design Foundation: Design Critique
• Mastering the Art of Design Feedback (Medium)