5 Mistakes You Should Avoid While Getting Design Feedback

There are several lists on web design mistakes and various check-lists showing things you should include in your web designs out there on Internet. Most of the reviewers focus on the web design, but don't give much importance to how a good design can become a great design through right way of collecting feedback.

There is always a feedback time in the web designing process which requires in-depth interaction between co-workers as well as external clients. And, in every interaction, there's a lot of scope for improvement.

Here's my list of some common mistakes to avoid while giving and collecting feedback on design facts:

1. Simply start asking for feedback: It is very essential to gather as much feedback as possible from people working in different departments. The first place you can ask for feedback on prototypes and design drafts is your project team. The designing team at kodematix.com collects feedback from developers and project managers to deliver great designs.

However, you shouldn't ask someone simply because he/she's just around - it can be dangerous. Well, asking him/her besides a couple of other people to collect various aspects you might forget. But remember, always be precise and specific in your questions while gathering the feedback.

2. Avoid general things like - Do You Like It? Instead of asking your colleagues "do you like the design", ask them specific questions explaining the story of the design first and background details.

Collect the answers of these questions from the people you ask for feedback:

• What's the main objective of the website/prototype/app you've worked on?
• What are different standards and presets for the projects?
• What is the target audience who'll be using the website? How do they look and behave?
• What are the potential use cases for the app/website? How does the potential user journey look like?
• Finally, What are different limitations you've had during the design process?

3. Personal opinions are personal: It's very easy to express your personal opinions but I've been to a couple of client's meetings where I hear the sentence "I don't like it" or something like that. Unluckily, design is a highly subjective area, and as people, we tend to take those feedbacks personally.

Theoretically, it's easy to stay factual and objective and ask these follow-up questions to solve these situations:

• In what ways will it differ to your personal reaction?
• Is there anything specific you don't like about that design? Which element you don't like? Is it the type style, the spacing or color?
• Think about your target audience and how they would react on that design?

4. Getting feedback the unstructured way: If you simply ask for feedback without considering the right process of getting feedback, you may end up sitting in number of design meetings where people you've asked for their comments will be providing you some lengthy reviews and express their thoughts.

Getting the feedback in an unstructured way will leave you with huge amount of feedback. So, follow a structured way or use some tools and clearly express the expected way to gather your design feedback.

5. Listen to the loudest one in the room: Yes, I know this is obvious kind of thing, but this situation happens in many teams. While agreeing on design drafts and prototypes, people may disagree on some specific areas. Give equal attention to each aspect. Don't overlook someone just because someone else gets more attention.

Conclusion: It is crucial to collect feedback of your designs because by incorporating more provisions and working within limitations, you can transform good designs to better web designs. However, giving and getting the feedback is an intense phase during every web project.

So, avoid these mistake and make use of design tools like InVision App, Marvel App, Fluid, Framebench, Usersnap etc. To ensure a transparent and efficient way of collecting design feedback.