Red Pen’s blog

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How to give feedback (without destroying someone's soul)

Hi. You’re reading part two. Here’s part one.

The opportunity to give feedback to others is both an important task and a compliment. The person seeking feedback respects your opinion and wants your contribution. It can be fun and rewarding; what you say could change how they perceive their design and how they choose to evolve their idea.

Giving feedback is also a responsibility on your part. You need to curate your thoughts to maximise its effectiveness. It’s easy for tempers to flare. Follow these tips.

Your sentiment

Be honest. There’s nothing worse than a back-patting, yes-man who says “everything looks great”. Sucking-up or pity-feedback doesn’t help anybody. Any respectable designer asks for feedback because they know they don’t know everything— they’re incapable of knowing everything. They want their idea to be better. People don’t grow from blind applause; they grow from accurate positive and negative reinforcement. (If you don’t think you can be honest for whatever reason you can kindly decline to comment. That’s OK.)

It’s not about you, it’s about the product— the design. That’s our purpose. That’s our bearing. We designers are selfless servants to the user. If your feedback isn’t sincere, then the product won’t be the best it can be, flaws will be overlooked and unchecked, and the users—your users—will be let down. The only shoes you should be walking in are the end-users’ of the design.

OK, that was the empowering bit. Now to knock you down a few:

What you think isn’t always correct. We’re happy to admit that when we were younger, we were completely naïve and inexperienced. We think we’ve grown out of it. We never will. “The more I know, the more I realise I don’t know.”

Let them finish explaining their idea. Be patient and take time to understand their motivations for decisions. Whilst it’s important to be honest, appreciate you could be wrong. Start sentences with “I think…”. Snap judgements and conclusions often stunt the feedback and shut down meaningful conversation. In the Steve Jobs book, Jonny Ive hid his team’s youngest ideas from Steve: “While ideas ultimately can be so powerful, they begin as fragile, barely formed thoughts, so easily missed, so easily compromised, so easily just squished.”

If you go a million miles an hour you make them feel obsolete and unworthy; and that’s the last thing you want to do when giving feedback.

This isn’t an opportunity to feel superior. It’s not a time to compare and undermine skills, or stroke your own ego. It’s not about demonstrating that you’re better and wiser. You’re providing opinions that will shape this person. Be nurturing. They should walk out feeling empowered and motivated to make their work better.

Be a source of inspiration. You’re in an incredibly influential position when giving feedback. It’s an opportunity for others to learn something off you. Take some time, walk them through your thought process and guide them with just enough information to realise an answer themselves— Inceptionise them. Let them own it and develop it.

Be ready to say “Oh I see, I get it now. Good stuff!”. Don’t feel the need to assert your change on their design. It’s not about leaving fingerprints behind and pointing at it later. That’s not the point of this exercise. It’s about making a better product together.

How to give it: “The Hamburger Technique”

The Hamburger is very effective at preparing our minds and tone for our feedback. Your average hamburger has good bits and less-good bits*. It has a tasty meat pattie, soggy lettuce, amazing swiss cheese, bitter pickles, fresh onions, overripe tomatoes, delicious ketchup, but dry, crumbly bread.

I’d still eat it. Similarly, if feedback was given in a layered order of positive and negative points, by the time you reach the end, emotions have balanced out. It makes absorbing it easier. We all like to think we’re perfectly rational human beings— but, come on, that’s delusion. This is a way to be both considerate and effective. And just like in part one, if you can’t think of anything positive to say, start with “I understand where you’re coming from…” and try to finish it— you’ll end up empathising.

(* Except Australian burgers, which are perfectly designed and incredibly delicious in every way. Beetroot, guys.)

Start with the big picture

It’s easy to focus on what you can see, but good design is purposeful. When someone asks you for feedback, start with questioning whether the design has solved the problem.

Ask the design creator to give an explanation. Context-setting: the objectives of design, who the main audience will be, and how this design will achieve those objectives. Only once we know this can we think as the user.

Users are goal-oriented. I like to imagine they’re anxious, under deadline, and short-tempered. They don’t give a shit about your sign up screen, your elaborate copy, or your business compromises— they want to get in, achieve their goal, feel satisfaction from it, and go home to their wife (or mistress.) Everything else is bullshit— and they don’t care.

Does the design achieve those goals? Will the design make them frustrated, confused, or apathetic? Do they need to make an effortful choice? Is there distraction? How many steps does it take to achieve the goal? Six? SIX?!— will an angry, anxious man who just wants to do his job care for SIX steps? You better believe NOT!

That line of exaggerated imagination will shape feedback to focus on the purpose. It’ll make sure that when looking at the design, every element is questioned— each should only exist to achieve the goal.

Thanks for reading.

Further reading

How to critique an interface by Aza Raskin. Some excellent fundamentals from a design legend.

The user is drunk. Another good metaphor.

Other unorganised thoughts

If you work on product, not everything can be fixed RIGHT NOW. Think about your feedback in the entire lifetime of the product’s existence. Things won’t be perfect, but they’ll ship, their effectiveness will be tested, and then they’ll be iterated. We will be there to try again.

Designers make decisions for a reason— right? Try asking for their thinking behind their work.

Shameless self-promotion

Speaking of feedback, Red Pen just released a pro service that makes getting feedback faster. A Mac app that integrates with Photoshop, infinite archives, project tagging, and more security. Check it out.

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Murica! The Red Pen USA road trip

A few weeks ago, we tweeted out that we were in America and wanted to meet up with you, our users! Well we (Matt and Katie) just got back and weren’t disappointed. People we now call our friends were really generous with their time. They entertained us with their stories and showed the best places that only locals know. And, most importantly, gave us great feedback about Red Pen. We’re settling back into Sydney and are ready as ever to take this to the next level— however, not before a quick re-cap!

Hello, San Francisco

After a 14 hour plane ride across half of the globe (Australia is located in Earth’s butt), we were greeted by the ancient, mythical TSA line at LAX. It was epic. “Murica!”, we thought. And a fun coincidence, Katie got food poisoning on the plane and was hunched over, sickly, and looked extremely suspicious. Oh god, anywhere but the TSA line, Katie! I promise officer, we are just innocent Australians! Howya gowin, mayte.

We arrived to the warm greetings of our dear friend Jesse Dodds, hopped a BART, and ventured to The Mission. Then, we beat jet lag (just kidding, we were screwed.)

We did all the touristy things: called it ‘SF’ not ‘San Fran’—because that’s what the cool kids say and we’re, like, totally cool—; learnt the rules of tipping (step one: panic, step two: give them all the bills); and admired the glamour of college football. A huge bike ride through Golden Gate Park revealed The Bridge. Then pier-side chowdah. We were introduced to the life-altering beverage that is horchata.

We learnt that brunch in America is paired with bottomless mimosas and went to the all-good-time-family-friendly Folsom Street Festival (not pictured). And it’s true; every cafe we was full of people dreaming up the next Facebook.

But to the work: Red Pen user Chris Lloyd from super-sekrit startup Assembly helped us replicate an https bug— and we fixed it right there for him. How’s that for personal customer support. We met some designers at Square who were kind enough to give us in-person feedback and got us thinking about team usage. We’re a feedback company, so we’re the first to welcome honest, sincere feedback.

Noo Yark

In our second leg in New York, we Airbnb’d in Bed-Sty for the complete experience— it’s where Jay-Z grew up! We became best friends with the Metro, questioned whether it’s set in Helvetica or Akzidenz (spoiler: both), and went antique-shopping in super-gentrified Williamsburg.

The city is filled with overwhelming culture, art and design. Sleep No More is an interactive theatre play; an entire hotel impeccably designed as sets. Walking through Times Square, we overheard every possible stereotypical New Yorker conversation— Leo, an elderly hot dog vendor, was, ahum, very vocal about the government taking away his guns.

Google Maps was both life-saving and infuriating (why won’t it save its state when it quits? Whyyyy). The compass feature is very much the very best thing when orienting in a foreign city. Foursquare recommendations aren’t always correct especially when it directs you to a hole-in-the-wall suspicious dumpling place.

We met Kai Brach, the creator and editor of Offscreen Magazine. In his talk at Harvest, he spoke about risking it all—and almost failing—to launch a startup magazine. He had more money and less stress freelancing, but it’s insanely, innately satisfying running your own thing, pouring your entire mind and heart into it, and having people appreciate it. We can empathise with that, Kai.

Then there was Brooklyn Beta.

Tim O’Reilly talked about the importance of good management—if you treat people like they’re brilliant, they become brilliant. AirBnb is standing up against New York subpoenas because they believe in better experience over bureaucracy and big business self-interest.

Catherine Hoke of Defy Ventures transforms paroled people into entrepreneurs. Three stood up on stage and proved you don’t have to succumb to who people tell you should be. If you make mistakes—even criminal ones—you can get up, dust yourself off, and fight to do better— if you have the willpower, persistence, and hustle.

During the breaks we chatted with folks. To some, we were gushing like tweens meeting Beiber. Oh, hi, Craig Mod, nice to meet you. Yeah, whatever, no big deal. We were thoroughly surprised to find they use Red Pen— it was the best feeling! They gave us feedback and we stole some of their good ideas— creatives are excellent to talk to. Nice meeting you Jeremy, Victor, Vic, Miko, Josh, Brendan, Erin, Loz, and Valencio! And astounding work throwing it, Chris and Cam (by the end Cam’s voice was raw, but he professionally carried it.)

After providing her with some Red Pen support, Jess Eddy invited us to her office in Greenpoint. She runs an ice-cream startup! We can personally attest they are delicious, distinct but not overwhelming. Good product design!

She has an interesting workflow with Red Pen. She fearlessly seeks out feedback by emailing random designers she found on Dribbble with her red pens, iterating quickly, and testing the new versions with another group of designers. We’ve never see Red Pen been used like this before and it blew our minds.

So thank you, Internet. That was an incredible trip. We’re eternally grateful for your time and effort. Until next time.

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How to deal with getting feedback

Don’t seek feedback to get praise. If you’re looking for praise, show your work to your mum. Feedback is about listening, digesting, and evolving. We should be eager to evolve— it keeps us nimble, fresh, and better than before.

Collaborating with someone can mean intense moments where ideas blip into existence, morph, fuse, and react. Uttering a single word can trigger a chain reaction of ideas, shifting your perspective, and arriving at an end result which you couldn’t possibly have imagined by your lonesome self.

We all sometimes get emotionally attached to our work. We think it’s the best thing ever. We’re human; we can’t help it. But when you show someone else your idea and sincerely ask them what they think, you get to see your idea from someone else’s eyes. It’s like a superpower; a peek into how someone else’s brain works. It’s scary when they get confused or disapprove; but it’s addicting, because now you know how to change for the better.

Feedback is how we grow as designers. It’s a process which allows others to help our idea reach its full potential.

I remember when I received my first feedback on the second week of my design degree— “Katie, your logo is a dog’s breakfast.” I was devastated. Staring at my first logo on a big screen in front of about 35 other students, I was angry and felt like a failure. Then my lecturer said, “it’s too cluttered because you’re using too many different fonts and the imagery you’ve chosen doesn’t evoke any relation with the name of the organisation. What do you want the viewer to think and feel when they see this logo? Focus on that.”

That was years ago, but it highlighted what good feedback can be. It’s an opinion coupled with an explanation. A bonus if it comes with suggestions for improvement. It’s up to us to decide how we can make it productive. Since then, the same pattern of feedback has made countless appearances from various people I’ve had the pleasure of working with. I’ve collected a few tricks to mentally prepare myself, which you might find useful:

People have said to me “check your ego at the door”, but no one ever said how. Recognise that no one is trying to take credit for your idea or attack you personally; they’re just trying to help. There is no right or wrong, just opinions from people. Repeat these words “I’m a mere dust particle in the universe at this one point in time. I’m just trying something out.”

Keep an open mind and pay attention. Don’t be pretentious and pre-judge people as being unworthy of giving you feedback. Anyone can have an idea; anyone can say something at any second that will give your idea a boost.

This isn’t about you personally or professionally. Step back and think of the bigger picture. It’s about your clients, your business, your co-founders, your product team, and ultimately your customers or end-users. You are all working together to make the design and the experience better. You are an active agent in a bigger whole. That is what this is. That is always what this is. That is always what the goal is.

It’s OK to be angry or jealous but don’t react just yet. (This one gets me every time.)

Breathe.

Before you say “but that’s because…”, take five minutes. Let the person finish what they’re saying and digest their opinion.

A good way to start is to say “I understand where you’re coming from…” Then finish the sentence by trying to empathise with where they’re coming from. The trick is even if you have to make it up, you’ll come out with empathy of their perspective.

Ultimately, you’re in control of the feedback you’ve received. Pick, prioritise and roll with suggestions and keep moving.

It takes guts for people to give you feedback. They’ve taken time out to think and comprehend their thoughts, so don’t be a jerk or a hothead. Jason Fried, founder of 37signals (now known as Basecamp) and internationally renown hothead, recently gave some great advice: give it five minutes.

No one is born with the ability to absorb all feedback without feeling like a complete failure. We all start at point zero, just dust particles in the universe making stuff and trying something out.

Next up: part two, how to give feedback

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Red Pen and gradual engagement

We quietly released a new feature last week: optional passwords. This doesn’t change anything—you can continue to use Red Pen as you’ve been doing—but if you add a password to your account, you can then log in anywhere else and see the Red Pens you’ve uploaded. Look for the “Your account” link on the homepage.

We originally created Red Pen out of revolt of every design feedback app out there. They shouted at you: they were big! feature-filled! could do anything! solved every problem!— and with that they put up physical and mental barriers to efficiency and loyalty. A user had to jump through hoops when all they wanted was some simple direction: “does this design work?”; “this bit’s ambiguous”; “make this distinct”; “this flow is perfect.”

Designers are communal creatures. We get better together. We grow when surrounded by people who push and question us. We make good decisions when we become aware of the way others perceive the world. Receiving good, quick feedback is important. Everything else is a distraction.

So, we designed Red Pen to have zero resistance between your problem (“What does my colleague think of this design?”) and our solution (seeing their feedback with dots.) We only ask for information when we need it. We only get you on board when we convince you.

We don’t ask you to add a password when you first use Red Pen. You wouldn’t care. You don’t know if you like us yet. You’re not yet sure how we fit with your workflow. A sign up form before you use the product only serves the business’ selfish needs. But, you’re much more likely to want to sign up when you’ve used us once and come back to upload your second design. That’s when we ask. Nicely and optionally:

Behind the scenes, we create an account for you the instant you see Red Pen the first time. We remember your computer with a cookie. Whenever you come back, the cookie tells us you’re user “#112342”, and recalls your recent Red Pens. You created an account and you didn’t even know it. Later, if you choose to add a password, your account graduates from cookie to the traditional login/password. Everything just migrates over; with the added control of choosing when you want to access your account.

Luke Wroblewski calls this general approach “gradual engagement”. My favourite line: “design engagement; not forms.” When we design we remind ourselves to regularly step back and think of the people who use us. It keeps our work purposeful.

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Bret Victor is a huge inspiration to us.