Short answer
Designers should consider incorporating features or guidance that encourage users to signal their novice status, perform self-critiques, or present design alternatives when seeking feedback on online platforms.
- Field
- User-Centred Design
- Source
- Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (2020)
- Method
- Mixed-methods research, including qualitative interviews and quantitative analysis of online forum data.
- Sample
- 12 participants interviewed; analysis of an unspecified number of posts in r/design_critiques.
- Evidence
- Moderate effect
Actively signaling a novice status and providing self-critiques or design variations significantly increases the quantity and quality of feedback received in online design communities. This user-centred design research insight is drawn from a 2020 study published in Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. Using Mixed-methods research, including qualitative interviews and quantitative analysis of online forum data. with 12 participants interviewed; analysis of an unspecified number of posts in r/design_critiques., researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: Designers should consider incorporating features or guidance that encourage users to signal their novice status, perform self-critiques, or present design alternatives when seeking feedback on online platforms.
Novice Signaling and Self-Critique Boost Online Design Feedback Quality
Actively signaling a novice status and providing self-critiques or design variations significantly increases the quantity and quality of feedback received in online design communities.
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · 2020
Key Findings
- 01Creators often feel uncertain about how much contextual information (design context, personal background, specific needs) to provide when requesting feedback.
- 02Strategies such as signaling novice status, self-critiquing one's own design, and presenting design variants lead to better community responses.
- 03These effective strategies are rarely used by creators.
Application
Design takeaway
Designers should consider incorporating features or guidance that encourage users to signal their novice status, perform self-critiques, or present design alternatives when seeking feedback on online platforms.
How to apply
When designing a platform for collaborative feedback, implement prompts or templates that encourage users to state their experience level, identify potential issues in their own work, or upload multiple design iterations.
Project actions
- 01When seeking feedback for your design project, consider framing your request by admitting you're a beginner or highlighting specific areas you're unsure about.
- 02Try presenting a couple of different design options to see which one resonates most with your audience.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Combines qualitative insights with quantitative analysis for a richer understanding.
- +Identifies actionable, yet underutilized, strategies.
Limitations
The specific online community studied might have unique norms that influence feedback dynamics. The quality of the feedback itself can be subjective and difficult to quantify consistently.
Reliability & validity
The study's validity is supported by the mixed-methods approach. Reliability could be enhanced by having multiple coders assess feedback quality to ensure consistency.
Think critically
Why might users be hesitant to employ strategies like novice signaling or self-critique, even if they lead to better feedback?
Design Principles
"Facilitate effective feedback by guiding users towards transparent and self-reflective critique requests."
Understanding how users solicit feedback is crucial for designing effective platforms that foster constructive critique. By identifying and promoting underutilized strategies, designers can enhance the value of collaborative feedback loops, leading to improved design outcomes and user satisfaction.
What This Means for Your Design
If you're asking for help with your design online, saying you're new, pointing out what you think is wrong, or showing different ideas you've had can get you much better advice, but people don't do it often.
How to use in your project
- 1.Reference this study when discussing your methods for gathering user feedback, particularly if you encountered challenges or sought to optimize the feedback process.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
To enhance the quality of feedback received for the design project, strategies identified in user-centered design research were employed. Specifically, drawing from findings that novice signaling and self-critique improve feedback outcomes (Cheng et al., 2020), the request for critique was framed to acknowledge a learning curve and highlight specific design challenges, rather than a general plea for input.
Source
Questions About This Research
- What does the research say about novice signaling and self-critique boost online design feedback quality?
- Designers should consider incorporating features or guidance that encourage users to signal their novice status, perform self-critiques, or present design alternatives when seeking feedback on online platforms. Evidence: Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (2020).
- Why does "Novice Signaling and Self-Critique Boost Online Design Feedback Quality" matter for design?
- Understanding how users solicit feedback is crucial for designing effective platforms that foster constructive critique. By identifying and promoting underutilized strategies, designers can enhance the value of collaborative feedback loops, leading to improved design outcomes and user satisfaction.
- How can designers apply this research?
- Designers should consider incorporating features or guidance that encourage users to signal their novice status, perform self-critiques, or present design alternatives when seeking feedback on online platforms.
- What were the main findings?
- Creators often feel uncertain about how much contextual information (design context, personal background, specific needs) to provide when requesting feedback.. Strategies such as signaling novice status, self-critiquing one's own design, and presenting design variants lead to better community responses.. These effective strategies are rarely used by creators.
- What research method was used?
- Mixed-methods research, including qualitative interviews and quantitative analysis of online forum data. with 12 participants interviewed; analysis of an unspecified number of posts in r/design_critiques..
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Moderate effect, based on a 2020 journal from Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- When designing a platform for collaborative feedback, implement prompts or templates that encourage users to state their experience level, identify potential issues in their own work, or upload multiple design iterations.
- What are the limitations?
- The findings are specific to the studied subreddit and may not generalize to all online critique communities or different creative domains. The study did not control for the quality of the design itself.