Do you know how to give good feedback?
“Your design is dreadful, reminiscent of the black malodorous ichor that oozes forth from decaying animal matter.”
That’s a rather egregious example of unproductive feedback. It does absolutely no good to simply smash your colleagues’ designs. It may be good fun, but it’s not conducive to a functional and friendly work environment.
So how do you give feedback in a constructive way? Let’s go over a few pointers.
4 Steps for Giving Productive Feedback
1. Start with the good
Ply them with compliments when you give feedback. Flatter them. This does two things. First, it puts you in a positive state of mind by forcing you to look for stuff you like. Second, it makes whoever’s receiving the comments feel comfortable. It helps them open up and puts them in a receptive state of mind.
2. Make suggestions
Instead of simply pointing out what you don’t like, suggest ways to improve their work. Perhaps a thinner font? Maybe a heavier line weight? Be specific and constructive. If they pushback at all, then explain why you think your idea is better.
3. Provide examples
Show them the stuff you like. Find examples of sites, photos, illustrations, even music that will help them get back on track. Sometimes it may even be helpful to create a mini mood board filled with inspiration when you sit down to give feedback.
4. Don’t overdo it
Too much feedback can be overwhelming. It can sap motivation and slow forward momentum. Keep your feedback to a minimum to keep the project moving forward.
It all seems like an awful lot of work just to give feedback, but it’s worth it. Constructive criticism improves creative collaboration and ultimately leads to better designs. Also, your coworkers will like you more when you respect their work and focus on building each other up instead of tearing them down.
Use Droplr to Give Visual Feedback
Need an extra tool to perfect your feedback game? You can use Droplr to give visual feedback on designs, code, blogs, and any other online content. Droplr lets you take annotated screenshots and send them to your co-workers with the click of a button. Simply copy and paste a short link to share your screenshot’s location in the cloud.
Remember, a picture says a thousand words. And with Droplr, you can add words to your screenshots too! Annotate them with text, drawing tools, emojis, and arrows to explain any changes you recommend. You can include multiple screenshots with separate feedback in a single board that you can send to your co-worker as a link.
Improve your team’s collaboration with Droplr today or schedule a free demo.