Design feedback at a startup
Feedback is one of the most critical parts of company life. It’s important to incorporate proper design feedback processes to ensure that the organization can learn and improve during debates and discussions.
Use the “same language”
As a designer, you deal with feedback on an everyday basis. One day, you may receive feedback on your solutions from your design colleagues or product managers. On another day, you may give feedback to other designers within your organization. In both cases, the feedback must be clear, specific and actionable.
It’s important to ensure the way you communicate is the same as what the “receiver” understands so you both “speak the same language.” There are several levels of what we can consider “speaking the same language.” The first one is the language you use when you speak about the product. Establish naming conventions within your product and communicate them to the whole team.
Using the same terms when speaking about the product is essential. The clarity around features, components and pages is crucial. If your team is misaligned on the language, it may slow down the development of the whole product. The team will have to spend more time discussing details rather than building and moving forward.
The bigger team you have, the more challenging is to align with every stakeholder, but misalignment will make the feedback part confusing.
All these seem like obvious things to do, but in reality, the more complex a product, the harder it is to keep in alignment with namings. It’s especially true if it’s an early-stage startup with many other things to solve.
Introduce “User manuals” to better understand your colleagues
The other way to improve feedback sessions is to create a “User Manual” for each team member in the company. This isn’t a new concept in the IT world. Here are just a few examples from different companies: “My User Manual” by Atlassian, “ How managers are using User Manuals” by Business Insider, and “A personal user manual for working with me” by Friday App.
As part of Ethena onboarding, you have to create a “User Manual” where you specify the best way of working with you and other details you want to share with your coworkers about how to interact with you. This document helps you to understand your colleagues a bit better, so you will be able to structure your feedback in the best way.
The secret recipe to a positive work environment starts with filling out a “How to Work with Me” questionnaire.
Try different feedback formats
The feedback can be split into two sub-categories: feedback in person and async feedback.
Feedback in person is a bit harder without preparation. You have to analyze/understand/process information and generate feedback as the conversation continues. If you’re listening to the presenter, you have a chance to write down your thoughts and ideas without keeping them in your head.
- Base your feedback on facts rather than your personal preferences. If you want to mention your personal taste, do not forget to call that out.
- Make sure you have the context before providing feedback. Ask clarifying questions to understand the decisions and final goals.
- Feel free to collect all necessary information and provide feedback after the meeting.
- Try to present the problem from another perspective rather than offering any specific solution.
You will have collaboration/working sessions with a product, engineering and other teams. These sessions are focused on discussing designs/solutions and hearing concerns and feedback the team may have. The main point of it is to challenge the designs and reduce the scope of the project. As a designer, you must be able to defend your ideas and explain why the solution you’ve come up with, provides the best experience and can be built within a reasonable amount of time.
Sometimes, your colleague from another team can inspire you to a new solution; be open to hearing other ideas but always try to provide the best user experience because technology should solve people’s problems, not create new ones.
Also, when you receive feedback, take it as constructive criticism. Do not allow your ego to take over your feelings. There are times when you can be wrong, and it can be hard to accept it but remember, it’s not about being right; it's all about learning, iterating and finding the best solution.
In the end, remember, feedback is always a circular process. After you receive the feedback, refine the designs and go to your users to receive feedback from them. Then — repeat.
