How to request actionable feedback for your designs
It’s 3 a.m. I’m hunched over my desk, squinting at my screen.
I’m struggling to stay awake. Coffee cup number… four? Five? I’ve lost count.
What’s keeping me up, you ask? A design brief that reads like it was written by a drunk poet on a rollercoaster.
Welcome to my world.
As you know, I run an on-demand design service. Sounds fancy, right? In reality, it’s me playing detective with cryptic client requests.
I don’t often read briefs. We get hundreds of design requests every single day.
It’d be impossible to do it by myself.
But sometimes, when the team is having a hard time, they tag me, and I do my best to help.
And when that happens, some days I feel like I’m decoding an alien language.
On other days, I’m a mind reader in training.
Take last Tuesday, for example. A client wanted a logo. Simple enough, you’d think.
Their brief? “Make it pop. But not too much. Like, subtle pop. You know?”
No, Client. I don’t know.
Their instructions were vague, confusing, and not very helpful.
When asked for examples, they hit us with the holy trinity of logos: Apple, Tesla, and Starbucks. For a pet grooming business!
I nearly choked on my cold pizza.
But here’s the thing: I get it.
Not everyone can translate the beautiful chaos in their heads into words.
Some clients expect us to pull a Picasso out of thin air.
“Surprise me,” they say.
Sure, let us just whip out our magic wands.
It’s like playing charades but with high stakes and paying customers.
So, how do we survive this creative jungle?
How do we turn “make it pop” into something actually useful?
Here’s the deal, fellow design adventurers! I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve.
Come with me as we dive into the art of client whispering.
We’ll explore questions that’ll make even the vaguest clients spill their “design beans” as actionable feedback.
Get ready to transform those head-scratching moments into “Aha!” epiphanies.
Buckle up, buttercup.
It’s going to be a wild ride through the land of design communication.
And who knows? By the end of this, you might just become fluent in client-speak.
Let’s turn those facepalm moments into high-fives, shall we?
Asking for opinions online—is it any good?
When people are out of ideas and have nobody close to them to ask for help, they ask for opinions online.
They’re hoping to see if the experts all over the internet can give them some direction. You might be tempted to do this yourself.
It sounds easy, right?
Just send a screenshot of the request and ask the internet to decode it for you!
But does it really help?
Tell me, have you ever tossed a logo into a Facebook business group and asked, “Thoughts?” Prepare for chaos.
It’s like lighting a match in a fireworks factory.
Every single day, I witness this spectacle unfold.
Many hopeful entrepreneurs, agency owners, or even creative souls seek input, and suddenly it’s pandemonium.
The floodgates opened, unleashing a torrent of unsolicited advice from every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a keyboard.
Good luck extracting anything useful from this whirlpool…
Designer circles aren’t immune either, though they’re slightly more civil.
But it’s the small business owner groups that truly shine in their ability to descend into madness.
Within minutes, you’ve got a front-row seat to a verbal cage match.
Fragile egos shatter, and suddenly it’s personal.
You might find some gems in there, but you will definitely have to sidestep the rest of the circus.
My daily observations lead me to a conclusion: we, the design professionals, must pave the way for meaningful dialogue.
It’s time to improve our work and set a new bar.
Shout out to a great Facebook group that does it really well: Website Feedback Lounge (by The Admin Bar)
Sure, we might miss out on some ego-stroking, but our clients will reap the rewards.
After all, isn’t that the point?
Solutions, not validation.
This important part is missing from most “rate my design” posts.
Tips to help you get actionable feedback
Whether you’re getting feedback online or from your client, there are some ways you can steer the conversation down the right path.
Don’t get lost along with them; be the guiding light!
Here are some tips:
Don’t look for opinions
Banish “opinion” from your vocabulary when looking for feedback.
It’s a sure-fire way to summon the hordes.
Instead, target your audience.
Joe Public might not grasp design intricacies, and that’s okay.
You’re after quality insights, not a popularity contest.
Learn how to differentiate opinion from feedback.
Set a backstory
Set the stage with a solid backstory.
Logos aren’t just pretty pictures.
Provide enough context so responses can be rooted in strategy, not just aesthetics.
Instead of just focusing on the design itself, people can then try to see if the design matches the brand and its story.
Know your objectives
Crystal-clear objectives are your friend.
Let everyone know from the get-go what kind of feedback you are looking for.
Vague praise or criticism helps no one.
Let everyone know what the endgame for your design is.
What are the possible usage scenarios?
What is your competitive landscape like?
These details matter so people can grasp what they need to consider when writing down their feedback.
Otherwise, people might just assume you are asking whether the design is bad or good. There is nothing specific or actionable there!
Share your insights
Designers juggle constraints that others might not see. Share these insights.
Is this purely digital? Does it need to work when it is tiny?
Must it function in monochrome?
This context is gold, especially when you are working with clients.
These are things they might not even think of when requesting their designs.
It also gives them context for your design process and why you made some of the design decisions.
Be upfront about non-negotiables
If you or the client have non-negotiables (whether it’s a personal choice or a requirement in their field), say so upfront.
It’ll save everyone from going down pointless rabbit holes.
Imagine if people were so focused on thinking of adding a design element like a bird for a wildlife park logo.
They might be so focused on how they can make it fit in the logo, only to find out the client doesn’t want birds in the logo at all.
You just wasted everyone’s time!
Critique your work yourself first
Self-critique is crucial.
Put your work through its paces before inviting others to weigh in.
After all, would you just take a selfie and ask people to rate it without checking the quality of the selfie first?
You have to check the lighting, your background, your pose, and if your face is doing any weird thing you don’t want to show everyone.
That’s just a selfie. You should treat your work with more respect.
Make sure to review it first before sending it to your client or asking anyone else for their feedback.
It helps to create different mockups of the possible usage of the designs.
After all, a screen-perfect logo might fall flat in the real world.
You might have to make it more simple to still be identifiable and memorable, whether in larger or smaller formats.
Consider tweaking the colors a bit to make it easier to use on dark or bright backgrounds or even monochrome prints.
Remember, more often than not, simplicity trumps complexity, especially when it comes to versatility.
Provide variety in your options
Asking people to choose between nearly identical options is a waste of everyone’s time. There’s really nothing to choose.
The same logo design with just different colors? Useless.
We could’ve done that ourselves.
If you’re presenting alternatives, make sure they’re substantially different.
Consider changing the placement of design elements or adding and removing some.
Balancing flexibility and your rationale
Know your rationale inside and out.
As designers, there are certain choices that we stand by firmly (for a reason).
Be ready to defend your choices, but also be open to valid critiques.
Flexibility is key.
Filter out the feedback
Thick skin is a designer’s best friend.
Not everyone will deliver feedback with finesse.
Look past the delivery to the substance.
And yes, some commenters will be out of their depth.
Don’t let their noise drown out valuable input.
Unless they’re your client, you can always filter out their feedback and only focus on the important and actionable information.
How to collect design feedback
It’s not easy to be a designer.
But when we fail to ask thoughtful questions and provide thorough context, we perpetuate the myth that design is just about making pretty pictures on the cheap.
Remember, the type of questions you ask affects the kind of feedback you get back.
If you ask vague questions without much thought, you might get quick but not very helpful answers.
Make it easy for the peanut gallery to sit this one out.
So let me be bold again: ditch the call for opinions.
Ask for actionable feedback.
Hopefully, this method will lead to better outcomes for everyone.
Struggling with client work? Here are some guides that might help:
➡️Keeping design clients happy: The art of balancing preferences
➡️Ways to manage client expectations effectively: seeing it from the client’s perspective
➡️The art of saying no: Setting boundaries with clients
Key takeaways
- Working with vague and confusing design briefs comes with any design job. It’s all about getting actionable feedback from your clients to figure out what they really need and want.
- Just like with clients, asking for feedback online can be a hit-or-miss situation if you don’t provide context for the kind of feedback you’re looking for.
- To get actionable feedback, whether from your client or online, it helps to provide context for the brand you’re working on, your objectives, any non-negotiables, and insights on why you made any of your design decisions.
- Know how to differentiate opinions from feedback.
- Never send your work out for critique or feedback without doing a quality review.
- When providing a variety of options, make sure they are substantially different to make the most of the feedback you’re getting.