Giving feedback to creatives

Giving feedback is a skill.  Anybody can give feedback, but it takes practice and a thoughtful approach to give feedback that will help creatives take their work to the next level.  I recently had the opportunity to work with IDEO and noticed that they effectively have feedback skills built into their core culture. It made me think about what I’ve learnt about giving and receiving creative feedback over the years.

The first rule of thumb is to not make it personal.  Don’t say ‘I want’, and don’t focus on the negative.  Talking about the design in those terms is guaranteed to create ill-will and resentment, if not a blow-up argument.  Is this about creating great work or just pleasing your whims?  Instead talk about constructive, positive changes and the reasons (from research, the project objectives, etc.) they will move the work forward.

Don’t suggest full solutions.  Figure out what’s missing or what problem exists, and give that to the creative to come up with a solution.  It’s OK to suggest some approaches but don’t say ‘you have to do this’ as (a) nobody likes being given diktats, particularly creatives, and (b) they may actually have a better idea than you, particularly if they’re subject matter experts.

Be respectful.  Ideally you have already fostered an atmosphere of trust and respect on your team. If you haven’t you should start working on it now, as giving and receiving feedback happens far more effectively when the people feel trusted to improve on existing solutions, respected in their abilities to do so, and appreciated for the work they put in.

Receiving feedback is also a skill, which is more about fortitude and discipline: criticism of work you’ve done is nearly always a little painful – and you have to develop a thick skin.  It also pays to put aside your ego and not be defensive of decisions and ideas you’ve provided.  As much as it feels in the moment, it’s really not about you and whether you got it right, it’s about the work being the best it can be.  Developing a thick skin and putting away your ego are very tough things to do and even the best creatives aspire to these things rather than achieving them 100% of the time.

 

Filed under: creative delivery, method , constructive, creatives, criticism, design, feedback, IDEO, positive, respect, skills

UX needs apprenticeships

Something I regularly bemoan: the lack of knowledge, discipline, expertise, mentoring, schooling and respect for those things in UX in the workplace. It’s amazing how many people working in digital UX just make it up as they go along.  Some people really are smart enough to wing their way through but 90% of the time it’s a bad idea.

I encourage anyone in UX to go out of their way to regularly read and learn about how others are doing UX.  Share this with your co-workers and actively attempt to build learnings and improvements into your method.  Your skills and knowledge are never perfect – I’m amazed at how often some new technique comes along that I can use to evolve my own approaches. Every now and then I find somebody who takes this approach and they are an energizer.  What if everyone could energize each other in this way?  A smart colleague pointed this out today and it really struck home with me – having those energizing people around raises the game of your team tenfold.

Looking at other fields where one learns a craft, the tools and techniques, there is a form of apprenticeship.  Why not have this for UX?  You can learn it at university, but what about when you get into the workplace?  As far as I can see you’re either lucky enough to land with a person or people who will rub off well on you – or you are on your own. I predict that the great UX companies of tomorrow are the ones who are actively mentoring their people as apprentices today and for the future.

Filed under: creative delivery , apprentice, apprenticeships, energizing, interactive, learning, mentor, mentoring, method, skills, training, UX