Design Talk: Responding to Criticism
As a designer, criticism is an inevitable nuisance. I remember on my first blog I received a comment about one of my tutorials. At the time I didn’t get a lot of comments on my blog so any comment was a big deal. The comment said something to the effect of “This did not help” which for nonconstructive criticism, it’s pretty tame, however, I try to respond to all of my comments and that proposed a challenge of how I should respond to this one. Should I delete the comment and act like it never happened or respond with a critical comment. Obvious not because there is a level of professionalism when trying to start a blog/business, however, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun. Here are 5 things you can say in response to hate comments.
Thank You
Sometimes just a simple thank you is all you need. When someone is tearing down your designs it might take all of your strength not to tell the person they are wrong, but after you write a long worded response with all of the expletives in the world, delete that comment and replace it with Thank You!
That’s Exactly What I was Going For
Every designer has probably received a comment at some point in their design career referring to their designs as “cutesy” or “simple.” Sometimes they might even try to make those comments positive, but no matter how many times you hear “Your designs are so simple. I love them!” you will always take that as an insult. My favorite response to those comments is “That’s exactly what I was going for.”
I’m Sorry You Feel That Way
This is a great response to a wide variety of criticism and lets the criticizer know that there is no need to respond any further. If you want the conversation to end as quickly as possible, post this response. This also helps you to know if the criticism is legitimate. “I’m Sorry You Feel That Way” is a conversation ending topic as there is really no way to respond to that, however, if someone keeps hurling criticisms at you it’s probably because they like putting other people down.
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Sometimes misdirection is the best solution for dealing with criticism. Well, maybe don’t post something too random like the Geico quote, but you can say something to the effect of “Thank You for the advice. Did you see my new post it’s about using the blend tool to make colors lighter or darker. Maybe you would like that better.” With this response, you are acknowledging the criticism, but you are also encouraging them to view more of your posts. This could lead to more criticism, but hey, a view is a view.
Where Did You Have Trouble Understanding the Post
As someone who writes a lot of tutorials, I often have to distinguish between legitimate criticisms that need my help from those spiteful criticisms that deserve a sarcastic response. Like with the hate comment I mentioned above, It would have been beneficial to know why the tutorial “was not helpful” so I might have asked the person “Where in the tutorial did you have trouble with it?” It’s possible your tutorial was unclear and that would be really helpful to know so you can modify your post for future readers. Not all criticism should be taken personally because there is always something you can learn from that criticism.
I know at the beginning of this post I recommended not deleting criticisms and I still stand by that, however, there is a difference between criticism and hate comments. If someone is insulting your physical appearance or telling you they would be happy if you die, you have every right to delete a comment. The comments section of your blog is for opinions, but not for hate so if you feel like the comment isn’t unnecessarily mean you can delete it.
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