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How to give good feedback
Want to know how to get good (๐๐๐ก๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ก, ๐ซ๐๐ก๐ช๐๐๐ก๐, ๐๐ช๐ก๐ก-๐ค๐-๐ฅ๐ค๐จ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐-๐ข๐ค๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ช๐ข) feedback?
Want to know how to give it to others? (Yes, you do.)
โฐ Did you know that Iโm a big fan of questions โฐ
OK. Artists, designers, writersโฆreal, live human beings need feedback but we donโt always get the kind that helps us move forward.
Sometimes what aims to be useful is just coldly corrective or, well, a projection of what our listener is fearing, envious or ignorant of. (Guiltyyyyyyyyy.)
As with most things, it takes a bit of education to get what we need.
My all-time favorite, FAVORITE thing to say to clients:
๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ฌ, ๐โ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ.
Itโs a fantastic way to (gently) guide them into giving me feedback that is not prescriptive (make the logo bigger), personally motivated (I hate the color blue), or vague (can we just make it pop more).
I might follow up withโฆyou guessed it: a QUESTION ๐
What is missing?
What do you think might not hit the mark with your audience?
Which goal would you like to prioritize first?
At which point do you get confused at all?
And then a lot of โtell me whyโs.
Big fan of that old standby as well.
The same line of thinking can work when giving or asking for feedback from a friend, a critique group, a mentor, or whomever you are in front of showing off your stuff.
Encourage them to ask questions.
Find holes.
Point out anything confusing or unclear.
Clarify your intentions or motivations.
The clear parameters of a question allow a person to pause and say, wait-what am I really looking at or looking for here? (A question for a question!? I love it.)
๐๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ข๐, ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉโ๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ง ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ชโ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐?
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