Beware the Feedback Loop

Purple monkey dishwasher. A classic game of Chinese whispers. When it comes to feedback we've all been there. And it’s not always miss-hearing. We've all interpreted information to fit our own wants or needs. ‘I need you to take the rubbish out’, mum said. But she didn't say when, so I'll do it tomorrow.

Make the logo bigger becomes Increase the chickens

Or maybe we just get the translation wrong. My ‘bigger’ might very different to your ‘bigger’. Maybe size was never the issue. By bigger, did you actually mean more legible? Maybe you want it to stand out more? Well, let’s make it pink.

We need to start from scratch becomes I have to grab myself

With so many people in the chain of feedback, the real problems often get completely misconstrued, re-translated and bent out of shape till they sometimes don’t make sense. Often pushing us in the completely wrong direction. 

When it comes to feedback, tell me the problem, not the solution.