A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to listen to @CarlSmith talk at a local design group meet up I attended. If you aren’t familiar with Carl, he works at wicked cool company called nGen Works and is the mastermind behind Happy Webbies. But, enough about that guy…
Being the big usability expert that he is, he constantly mentioned getting feedback from his “pool of people” on various topics. He would poll the audience, so to speak, to see what the majority of people thought about a company name, a usability feature, layout, etc.
What an awesome idea I thought!
Now I can have a way to prove clients wrong when they are being idiots!
Ok, so there’s more to it than that, but that is certainly a perk. Whats great about this idea is that’s free to do and can do wonders for your work. Find as many people who are willing to give you feedback from time to time and add them to a list. Don’t just limit yourself to the design community though. In fact, the more your each outside of the community the better. It seems that a more diverse list of people from different backgrounds, ages, and internet skills would really improve the quality of feedback you get.
So, that’s it in a nutshell, watch the video for more details and share your comments below!
One Comment
Be prepared for the down-side to this.
For this to work outside of the design community - you have to be specific with the feedback inquries.
You cannot simply ask some random person "what do you think about X or Y design?" - you'll get vague and non-relevant feedback. "It's nice" - "I think it's neat" and so on.
I've tried to include my non-design friends in my work feedback and critiques for years and those are typical responses.
Ask specifics —
"What is the first thing that you see when looking at X?"/ "What is the first thing that grabs your attention?
"Does the Logo effectively grab your attention?"
"Does the color scheme help convey the meaning in this advertisement?"/ "Does it work against the ad?"
"Does this make you want to find out more about X?"
Don't explain to the person you are surveying - the specifcs until after you have garnered their input. Otherwise - they'll be focused on your conclusions and end up giving you the feedback that you wanted to hear - not the feedback you need to hear.
With design folks - they already have the trained background and you can simply show them the piece and vaguely ask what they think. Assuming they know their field. Becaus I have also known designers that couldn't design a 'smiley face'.
Adapt and adjsut your inquries to fit the individuals. Gain some insight into who these people are that you are asking their opinions.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by designlinx: Episode 16 - Building a Feedback Community http://cli.gs/4VEnh...