As designers we take feedback from stakeholders, end users and internal team members from time to time. Some feedbacks enhance the experience, others don't - This is the tricky part as a designer, you only choose to go forward with only feedbacks that matter. Some ways you can try - 1. Have all the feedbacks laid out and ask all members to vote for their favourite, choose the ones that works + why? 2. Lay out all feedbacks with Pros & Cons for the same - Share it with the team for approval - The ones with less Cons will be immediately discarded. 3. If the feedback is provided in an on-going meeting and you cannot say no right away. Ask for sometime to think over it - Then go ahead with any of the above options :D We Designers deal with so many direct/indirect users throughout the product lifecycle each providing some insight - But only designers have the ability to filter out and move forward with the decisions for the betterment of the product. So take a deep breath and start find your way.
It's crucial to stay calm and objective when receiving feedback. Often, there's a factual basis for your disagreement (remember, you're the expert in this field), but you might struggle to articulate it. Take the time to develop clear, rational arguments for why you disagree with the feedback. If you can't pinpoint a reason immediately, step back and reconsider if there's a valid reason to disagree at all. If you feel the feedback is incorrect but can't explain why, do some research. For example, let's say a luxury watch brand asks you to enlarge the logo on a design you've created. You might respond with: "Your target audience appreciates elegant brands and has an innate sense of what looks 'right'. Elegance relies heavily on visual hierarchy and balance. An oversized logo can disrupt this balance, making the design appear aggressively commercial, which could negatively impact sales."
Part of being a Designer is handling feedback that you disagree with, part of being a great designer is explain why. I have found that explaining why I disagree is huge and often helps with the decision making. Pictures and sketches help tremendously and often but not always sway the outcome. Remembering that the client pays the invoice and you work for them.
This issue comes up occasionally. When I get feedback that I disagree with, the first thing I do is get my notes ready and jump on a call with the client. During this call I ask them to elaborate and defend their position. Then I clearly and calmly explain why I disagree citing any statistics or case studies I have on hand. I recently had a client who wanted changes opposite of all CRO and UX best practices. They wanted the entire hero section to be a slideshow with no text. I explained to them that when people land on a site they immediately need to understand where they are and what they can do. I asked the client to look through the eyes of a first-time visitor and think about the experience they would have landing on a page like this. After that and showing some examples I got the client to agree to the original design.
Handling feedback with grace, even when it doesn't align with your vision, is key in design. Once faced with a client who wanted a color palette that clashed with the brand identity. Instead of outright rejection, proposed a compromise by integrating subtle accents of their choice. This approach maintained the design integrity while honoring their input, leading to a successful and harmonious outcome.
At Innovate, handling feedback that we disagree with involves a respectful and collaborative approach. We start by actively listening to the feedback to fully understand the client's perspective. Then, we provide a rationale for our design choices, explaining how they align with the project's goals and best practices. If the client remains unconvinced, we explore compromises that incorporate their feedback while maintaining the integrity of the design. For example, during a website redesign project for a local business, the client wanted to use a very bright color scheme that clashed with their brand identity. We explained how the existing color palette aligned with their brand values and ensured a better user experience. When the client insisted, we proposed a compromise by integrating their preferred colors as accents rather than the primary scheme. This approach satisfied the client while preserving the overall design quality and brand consistency.