It’s both easier and harder than you think, but here a few points to make it constructive.

Wait ’til your asked

Sure, you can always offer unsolicited feedback, but by waiting until you’re asked gives you the advantage of knowing what they want and that they are ready to receive it. Someone who hasn’t asked for feedback is probably not ready to hear it.

If, for some reason, you feel compelled to offer unsolicited feedback, make sure that you’re doing it for their benefit and not yours.

Understand the context

Even if you’ve been asked, understand whether someone is asking for feedback or affirmation. I tend to ask this directly, which comes of as abrupt–especially when many people don’t know for sure. A smoother way is to gains some context by asking more about the project to understand their motivations for asking.

Providing a critique when someone is seeking affirmation stings, no matter how kind and constructively you are. At the same time, an affirmation seems shallow when someone is seeking constructive criticism.

Know the goal

“What do you think?” is a common way to ask for feedback. If someone asks you this, ask them to be more specific. To give effective feedback, it helps to know how they plan to use it and how much they can change as a result. The best feedback is something that can be applied.

Be constructive and specific

If you see something that you think could be improved, be specific. It takes more time to consider and articulate, but is much more informative than vague observations and opinions.

Cite your sources

If your feedback is based on research, such as recent customer feedback, survey data, or some other research, cite it! Maybe you read or learned something the presenter hasn’t (or vice versa!).

Feelings come from you

Sometimes, you’ll see something that you can’t articulate. There are two options to take, in that case.

1. You can wait until you figure it out.
   Sometimes it just takes time to bring your thoughts and feelings together into a coherent sentence. In that case, wait.
2. Other times expressing how you feel is the whole point of the exercise, but speak for yourself. Unless you’ve surveyed the audience, don’t speak for them. “This makes me feel good.” or “I like how you’ve combined the text with the image.” are perfectly fine. “It looks annoying.” really means that you find it annoying, which might bear pursuing, but it is framed in the sense of “everyone will find it annoying,” which is not the case (unless, you have some research on the subject, in which case, see the previous point on sources).

If done right, providing feedback and criticism can be a win-win interaction.

Today’s Twitter gem was a Medium post from Mike Monteiro about the place for politeness in criticism–basically saying that politeness has to place in a design critique. Perhaps, but I think respect certainly has a place.

I agree with his premise that it’s “Better to get your nose bloodied in a critique of your peers, than to be slaughtered in a client’s conference room.” I disagree that a bloody nose is necessary “in a critique of [by] your peers.”

I’ll admit that I’ve delivered some of the aforementioned bloody noses–a practice that I’m working hard to reform. And, I’ve received a few, as well. In every case, the bloody nose experience wasn’t necessary, wasn’t constructive, and, in variably, was the result of just doing it wrong.

If it hurts, you’re doing it wrong, or you’re doing the wrong thing (or, you’re just out of shape).

So, how do you get constructive and effective criticism? He mentions some steps in his article that I think they bear repeating.

Get it early and get it often

Waiting until the last minute to get criticism is almost always asking for trouble. First, it’s unlikely that the designer will have time to apply any of the suggestions, so they will just be frustrating at best, and demoralizing at worst. A waste of everyone’s time, in any event, and contributing to the embarrassing experience in front of the client that he describes in the article.

It’s more constructive and effective to get frequent, small-scale, actionable feedback throughout the process, than to wait. This is not an “either or” choice, but a continuum. Nevertheless, lean towards the more frequent end of the spectrum, whenever you can.

Yes, we’re busy, but what goes around, comes around, and we’re all in this together.

Know (and state) the design scope and goal

The goal of the design might not be obvious. Likewise the scope of your involvement (and span of control) might not be obvious. To keep the criticism focused, keep the goals and scope of the design project visible.

Start by saying, for example, “I’d like you to review my redesign of the [xyz] home page to make it more accessible to an older audience. The changes include making the type easier to read, the call to action more visible, and to clarify the client’s value proposition. I’d like you to help me find aspects of the design that could be improved to meet those goals, better.”

In that, you’ve taken 60 seconds to focus the review.

The quality of answers is proportional to the quality of the questions.

If you find that you’re not getting the feedback you want, maybe you didn’t ask for the feedback you wanted. Don’t assume that everyone reviewing your work will know the goals of your design.

Thank them

A friend told me that “Feedback is a gift.” So, like anytime you receive a gift from someone, thank them!

Next up, how to give a helpful and respectful critique.