How Feedback Fuels a Growth Mindset in Design

As an experience designer, I regularly receive feedback, which plays a crucial role in my work. It comes from multiple sources—users, peers, and stakeholders—shaping the products and experiences I help create. In addition to my work, I also teach students, which requires me to provide high-quality feedback. So I'm on both ends of this "feedback" transaction.

Understanding the Fine Line Between Feedback and Criticism

It's essential to distinguish between feedback and criticism. Feedback is constructive and aimed at improving behaviour or outcomes, whereas criticism often focuses on what's wrong without offering solutions. If the tone is negative, judgemental, or lacking in actionable insights, it becomes criticism rather than helpful guidance. True feedback should motivate and guide the recipient, highlighting both areas for improvement and areas of success. Without specificity, feedback fails to serve its purpose, leaving the recipient unclear on how to proceed or improve.

Turning Feedback into Action: Steps to Make It Stick

In my work, I rely on a structured approach to feedback, which ensures clarity and actionability:

• Situation: Describe what has been done.
• Behaviour: Explain what happened as a result.
• Impact: Outline the consequences or influence of the behaviour.
• Specific & Actionable: Provide clear, actionable steps for improvement.

Consider this scenario: A product owner introduces a significant scope change mid-sprint without consulting the design and development teams. This disruption leads to confusion, missed deadlines, and decreased productivity.

Here's how feedback might be framed using this approach:

1. Situation: "Recently, you introduced a significant scope change in the middle of our current sprint."
2. Behaviour: "This change was implemented without discussion with the development and design teams."
3. Impact: "This caused confusion, disrupted our workflow, and led to missed deadlines, affecting overall productivity."
4. Specific & Actionable: "In the future, it would be beneficial to establish a process where significant scope changes are discussed with relevant team members before implementation. This could involve a quick meeting or review session to ensure team alignment and better management of workflow and deadlines.”

Embracing Feedback as a Stepping Stone to Growth

Whether positive or negative, receiving feedback with humility and understanding is crucial. The first step is to shift your mindset: feedback is an opportunity for growth, not a personal attack. When you receive feedback, instead of reacting emotionally, ask yourself, "What can I learn from this?"

Remember that feedback typically addresses your work, not your personality. Techniques such as taking a brief pause to process the feedback, practising active listening without interrupting, and asking for specific examples can help you better understand and apply the feedback. For instance, you might ask, "Can you show me where you think the design could be improved?" or "What impact do you believe this issue has on our business?"

Paraphrasing the feedback can also clarify your understanding. You might say, "So, if I understand correctly, you're suggesting that simplifying the navigation could make the interface more intuitive, is that right?" This ensures that both you and the feedback giver are aligned.

Recognizing When Feedback Isn’t Working — and What to Do About It

Even when feedback is delivered following best practices, it doesn’t always guarantee a change in behaviour. There are instances where, despite repeated feedback, a person's actions remain unchanged. In such situations, it’s crucial to understand the next steps to take.

Any repeating issue is a clear signal that something’s wrong, and the first step towards resolving it is to dig deeper and understand what's really going on. There are several common reasons why feedback might fail:

1. Communication Breakdown: The individual may not fully understand what is expected of them, or they might be receiving conflicting messages.
2. Lack of Motivation: The person may not be motivated to adhere to the agreements or follow through on the feedback.
3. Skill Deficiency: Even when someone understands the feedback and is eager to improve, they may lack the necessary skills or knowledge to make the changes.
4. Process Management Issue: The individual is making every effort, but some aspect of the organisational processes is preventing them from fulfilling their commitments.
5. Cultural Issue: Adhering to agreements is not part of the team’s established norms, so the person simply follows the prevailing culture.

Identifying or solving the problem on your own can be challenging, and that's perfectly normal. You might miss critical details, or the person receiving the feedback may be resistant to change.

In such cases, involving a third party (for example, scrum-master) can be a logical next step, though this is often easier said than done. However, reaching out for help is often the fastest and most effective way to solve a problem. It’s important to approach this rationally and take advantage of available resources.

When feedback isn't producing the desired results, involving a third party as an observer or mediator can be a game-changer.

Embracing a Feedback-Driven Culture

I encourage you to actively seek out feedback in your work. Don’t wait for it to come to you—ask for it regularly and be specific about what you need input on. Equally important is offering thoughtful, constructive feedback to your peers. By engaging in this process with care and attention, you help foster a culture of continuous improvement, benefiting both individual growth and the broader team.