Better Design Feedback

Your goal as a design manager should be to create a healthy and happy environment for your designers, where they’re consistently shipping high quality work on time.

You do this by building trust.

 You do this by being kind, treating people fairly. And not having ulterior motives.

 You do this by advocating for the needs of your designers.

You do this by being open, honest, and transparent with your team.

You do this by cleaning the dishes. By working in the metaphorical field. Even when it’s hot. Even when you’re tired and especially when it’s not required of you.

You do this by communicating clearly what expectations are for each year designers and then holding them accountable to them.

You do this by letting go of as much control as possible. And giving as much autonomy. And trust to your designers as possible.

You do this by acting more like a coach than a manager.

You’ve got to help unblock your designers when they get stuck.

You also need to help them see a vision for the things that you’re building. So that they clearly understand the why.

 Finally. You need to be on the lookout for fear, drama, or politics. And see if you can stamp them out as quickly as possible.

A designer’s job is to create new things. And then to use data and feedback, to make sure that the things they designed are the best solutions possible.

The best designers, I know have the least amount of ego and pride. They don’t beat their chest. They work well with others and they’re open to new tools and new ways of doing things.

 They’re true seekers. They’re always open to one more iteration. And always open to learning new things.

 Finally, the best designers that I know are always giving back. They’re always willing to help out a fellow designer or somebody else on their team.

Your role as the designer is to communicate well. To consistently deliver things on time. To work well with others. To have low ego and low pride. And to use feedback and data to ensure that the things that you’re designing are the best possible solutions for the problems that you’re trying to solve.

 Well friends we’ve reached the end of our journey here together. If you’ve made it this far. Congratulations. If I could leave one final piece of advice, it would be to document everything.

The best design teams that I’ve worked with. They have an operations manual that outlines everything from onboarding. To various processes, to what expectations are for design leads and for designers on the team.

The best designers I know are constantly documenting their work. This could be through a portfolio. A daily journal. A blog. It could be through dribble or a podcast or whatever. Finally, if you’ve benefited from other designers who came before you. I’d encourage you to find ways to document. What’s worked for you. And to give back. Thank you so much for listening. Please consider sharing this course.

If you found it helpful. And please add your email below. If you’d like to be notified. The next time I release a designer resource.

So long for now!