Don't design without feedback - #3 Xperience ByDesign

runningdesigner (26)in #life • 6 years ago (edited)

Xperience Bydesign conf in Prague

My third summary and thoughts from Xperience Bydesign conference helded in Prague. This time I'm commenting the talk that gave Nina Mehta, Design lead from Berlin's Stripe.

Importance of feedback

In my opinion, when done correctly, receiving feedback is the most valuable part of any designer’s process. It doesn’t matter how experienced the designer is. Looking at the world through our subjective view created by our past experiences is really difficult to tell, whether your message will be understood by others without their feedback. The variety of people also provide insights that never would have occurred to you, thanks to their unique set of experiences and skills.

Live collaboration

My last but not least takeaway was from a talk by Nina Mehta, coming from Berlin’s Stripe. In the age of digital collaboration tools, she stressed the importance of personal design critique sessions. Focusing on the methodology she’s using with her team, she recommended a few general rules for giving and receiving better feedback. According to her, when critiquing creative work you should follow these rules:

1.Be kind

2. Ask a lot of questions

3. Identify the problems instead of creating quick assumptions or solutions

4. Get over the idea that software could be “done”

I liked how she stressed the importance of live collaboration. In the age of online collaboration tools, which occupies our current design space, is this approach very rare. However, live collaboration and such methodologies create space for learning. Not necessarily the design skills rather understanding of people's behavior and improving your communication and negotiating skills.

It’s always healthy to learn how others do that. Seeing the subject “design feedback” through her lens allowed me to question our process and to think more deeply about the matter itself. It made me curious as well .

How does the process of design critique look like in your team or company?

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