Tell Me What You Hate About It

When I’m trying to get honest feedback, I don’t ask what people like about my prototype - I ask what they hate. I’ll always take compliments. I love compliments, but something about being asked to roast your work really gets people excited about giving feedback. I’m often surprised by who has strong feelings about button spacing.

This isn’t something I do when I think the work is polished and perfect. It’s for the first draft. You need to be far enough along that you can answer why you made these choices, but not so far along that you’re attached. It’s not a defend your work to the death moment. It’s a moment when the other person knows you’re ready for feedback and you’re ready to redo things.

It even works for feature planning! It’s amazing how much smoother the planning goes when someone feels comfortable saying “No, I hate that.”