Guides

Managing Feedback

Overview

Managing the art and design review process is a critical skillset for professionals. Acquiring applicable feedback requires a basic interpersonal communication skills and understanding of body language.

Reading Faces

There is a common theory that there are seven basic emotions and some pretty common facial expressions that go with them. True or not, that theory can provide a nice working framework for operating in the land of art and design reviews. Can you name them in the image below?

By Icerko Lýdia - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25584633

The ability to read facial expressions can provide clues regarding how someone is really feeling about a work of art or design. Cognitive science research tell's us that we humans are driven by a biological cocktail consisting of a mixture of raw, lizard-brain; emotion and higher-order-thinking; logic. Art and design that works on both levels will be most effective at moving our audiences and users past reaction to action.

Micro-emotional body language reveals what we are really thinking. When you start a presentation or move to the next image, watch the reviewers face at that moment. People will give away what they are really thinking (in their lizard brains) for a brief moment and it will show in their expression. They will often change expression very quickly as their logical brain reminds them that making faces in a professional setting is inappropriate behavior.

seven faces showing emotions with labels

Controlling Reactions

In order to get useful feedback, you need to control the review. You can dive deeper into the effectiveness of the the work by deliberately steering the conversation through the goals of the media. Provide context by asking questions like these:

Is it appropriate for the target audience?
Is the work meeting the functional goals?
Is the work meeting the aesthetic (emotional) goals?
Do you think the work is right for the brand (will it be memorable)?

Always ask why they responded the way they did and take careful note of their emotions. If things get contentious, their emotions will be driven by the discussion and not the work. Keep asking why until you get to the root of the concern. Put the projects needs, not yours or theirs at the forefront. And, always defend your design within the context of the design goals, which should have been agreed upon in advance. Here is an example

"Why don't you like the color blue in this book design?" "Because I think a color like orange or red will attract more attention." Do you think orange or red will create the feeling of calm and satisfaction that we set as a goal for the design?" "Well, no one will be calmed by the color if they don't notice the book on the shelf first." "Perhaps we could work on using another kind of design element, like scale, to attract more attention to the book while leaving the color a calm blue to meet that goal?""Sure, lets' explore that"

Guide created by Bill Fischer

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