Running effective and impactful internal design feedback sessions
Over the years, I’ve participated in countless design critiques and review sessions. Some have been invaluable, while others felt like a complete waste of time. Requesting feedback may seem straightforward, but there’s an art to doing it right—especially if you want insights that are truly useful and actionable.
Make It Collaborative
The best design reviews don’t happen in silos. A diverse group ensures you receive well-rounded, constructive feedback that pushes your thinking beyond the obvious. I invite developers, designers, product managers, and even salespeople to feedback sessions. Their unique perspectives and tacit knowledge of the product and users offer valuable insights and help uncover potential edge cases early.
Additionally, including the broader team fosters a greater sense of ownership. When people feel their voices matter, they engage more deeply with the product and contribute to better decision-making.
Embrace Feedback with an Open Mind
Early in my design career, I feared feedback. I wasn’t confident in my solutions and took criticism personally. Over time, I realized that the best designers don’t work in isolation. A core part of our role is to facilitate collaboration and generate ideas as a team.
Professional maturity means detaching emotionally from your work. Testing hundreds of ideas and prototypes has taught me that the best solution is the one that delivers the most value to users—not the one that satisfies my personal design preferences.
Set the Stage for Success
At Zencargo, we tackle complex supply chain problems for diverse user groups. Even though our team understood the product vision well, designers often needed to provide background information to ensure everyone could grasp the problem space.
Documenting design work is invaluable. Taking the time to articulate research insights and design decisions makes designers stronger thinkers and problem solvers. It also helps teammates engage meaningfully in feedback discussions.
I usually share a detailed document or designs a day or two before a feedback session, allowing participants to absorb context and arrive prepared. This approach ensures discussions are focused, insightful, and productive.
Structure Feedback at the Right Stages
Formalizing the feedback process into three key sessions ensures targeted, relevant input at the right time. This structured approach allows for iteration and refinement, avoiding late-stage surprises.
🕒 30% Review: Directional Feedback
At this stage, the goal is to validate whether we’re on the right track. We’re not focusing on visual details yet, but rather on alignment with user needs and business objectives. Key questions include:
Is the solution likely to solve the problem?
Does it align with our product vision?
Are there scenarios we haven’t considered?
Are there technical limitations to address?
🕕 60% Review: UX and Interaction Design
With the direction validated, we shift focus to usability and interaction. Feedback at this stage helps refine the user experience by considering:
Affordances: Are interactions intuitive and clear?
Clues & Guidance: Are we providing users with the right information at the right time?
Error Mitigation: Are we designing safeguards to prevent mistakes and assist recovery?
Platform Feedback: Are users receiving appropriate feedback when they take action?
UX Patterns: Are we leveraging familiar design patterns to improve usability?
🕘 90% Review: Visual Design & Accessibility
The final stage fine-tunes the aesthetics and ensures accessibility compliance. We focus on:
Styles: Colors, typography, spacing, balance, hierarchy, contrast, and scale
Accessibility: Are color contrasts sufficient? Are we using color effectively to convey information?
Wrapping Up
Great feedback sessions leverage your team’s expertise to refine your design solutions. To make them as effective as possible:
✅ Foster collaboration by including cross-functional teammates.
✅ Stay open to feedback and detach emotionally from your work.
✅ Provide context upfront so participants engage meaningfully.
✅ Request the right feedback at the right stage for better iteration.