"I Just Don't Feel It." - The Most Expensive Feedback in Design

Imagine stepping into a doctor’s office for a consultation. The doctor meticulously reviews your scans, carefully studies your symptoms, checks your medical history, and ultimately recommends a tailored treatment plan based on their informed findings. You, however, might respond with: “I don’t really feel it.” This response might seem ludicrous in the context of healthcare, yet a strikingly similar situation unfolds in the world of design on a daily basis.

Consider this: a designer dedicates weeks to conducting extensive research, which includes interviewing users to gather their insights, meticulously testing user journeys to identify pain points, analysing competitors to understand market positioning, correlating business goals to the design objectives, and validating potential solutions through rigorous testing. After all this effort, the time comes for the presentation of their findings.

However, just five minutes into the presentation, someone interjects with comments like: “I don’t like blue,” “Can we make the logo bigger?” “My wife prefers the other version,” “AI made something cooler,” “Canva did this in five minutes,” or “I just don’t feel it.” We’ve all experienced those moments, smiling politely while secretly resisting the urge to hide under the conference table in frustration.

What may seem amusing on the surface is profoundly concerning when you delve deeper. This issue isn't merely about safeguarding a designer's ego; it is fundamentally about protecting the business itself. When subjective opinions consistently overshadow empirical evidence, organisations unknowingly expose themselves to significant risks that may not become apparent until they manifest as costly problems.

The hidden costs of relying on opinion-driven design manifest in multiple areas:

1. Misalignment of Products and User Needs: When designs cater to the personal preferences of executives rather than addressing actual customer problems, the products fail to resonate with users.

2. Neglection of UX Research: Ignoring user experience research often leads to a decline in usability and increased abandonment rates, ultimately affecting customer satisfaction and loyalty.

3. Inefficient Redesign Cycles: Continuous redesigns driven by conflicting opinions consume valuable time and budget resources, hindering project timelines and outcomes.

4. Diminished Team Confidence: Constantly shifting decisions can erode the confidence of team members, leading to a reluctance to propose innovative ideas out of fear that they will be altered or disregarded.

5. Talent Attrition: Capable designers may choose to leave organisations where their expertise is not valued, opting for workplaces where informed design decisions are prioritised.

6. Misalignment Across Teams: When different departments - marketing, sales, and product teams - are misaligned due to subjective input, it hampers collaboration and efficiency.

7. Inconsistent Brand Experiences: As various stakeholders inject their personal preferences into the design process, brand consistency suffers, confusing customers and diluting brand identity.

8. Escalating Development Costs: Frequent changes in requirements can lead to increased development costs, complicating project workflows.

9. Customer Experience Discrepancies: When customers experience inconsistent journeys, it undermines their trust in the business and negatively impacts conversion rates.

10. Slower Decision-Making: Reviews become subjective battles rather than collaborative discussions, slowing down the entire decision-making process.

Ironically, those who make these subjective decisions genuinely desire the best outcomes for the business; they simply lack the right criteria for making informed choices.

While design should indeed be open to challenge - healthy debate can lead to improved outcomes - the conversation should focus on critical questions that drive efficacy: 

- Does this solution effectively solve the user’s problem? 

- How does it align with our overarching business objectives? 

- What insights can we draw from our research? 

- What hard evidence supports our choices? 

- How will we gauge success?

Engaging with these questions fosters productive dialogue, whereas the vague assertion of “I don’t feel it” often results in cyclical conversations that fail to yield useful solutions.

Tools like AI and Canva are undoubtedly transformative; I use AI myself, and it has become part of many designers' workflows, as they can enhance ideation, automate monotonous tasks, and enable rapid exploration of design directions. However, they lack capabilities that are essential for successful design:

- They do not conduct in-depth interviews with customers.

- They cannot navigate the complexities of organisational dynamics.

- They lack the ability to facilitate stakeholder alignment.

- They cannot weigh the delicate balance between commercial objectives and user needs.

- They do not build consensus among marketing, product, sales, and leadership teams.

These responsibilities are rightfully entrusted to skilled designers and design leaders. The essence of design extends far beyond the mere creation of visual assets or screens; it centres on making well-informed decisions in the face of uncertainty. 

The most successful organisations recognise that they should not hire designers based solely on their proficiency with design tools like Figma or Adobe Suite; rather, they seek professionals who can mitigate risks, uncover opportunities, and translate complex business strategies into user-centric experiences that deliver results.

When evidence leads the way and opinions serve as an informative supplement, organisations operate more efficiently and effectively. Conversely, when subjective opinions dictate the design process and empirical evidence is only consulted afterwards, everyone ends up working harder for subpar results.

A fundamental shift in mindset can transform this dynamic entirely: instead of asking, “Do I like it?” organisations should inquire, “Will this help our users and our business thrive?” This reframed question is pivotal in elevating design from a superficial function to a strategic competitive advantage.

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