Step 1 – Start receiving feedback right away

Feedback should be part of your production plan from the moment you start working on your business. The earlier you start asking for feedback, the easier it will be to make a change. Don’t wait until you’re emotionally invested in your design to start getting feedback.

Step 2 – Be Open to what your customers have to say!

This goes back to emotional investment. If you’ve already made up your mind about a website, and there’s no changing it, no matter what anyone says, then don’t waste your time (or theirs). Seek feedback only when you’re going to pay attention to it. Don’t become so attached to your ideas that you can’t hear the constructive ideas being offered by those around you.

Step 3 – Use The Right Tools

People often avoid asking for feedback because of an unproductive past experience. Either the people asked didn’t respond, or there was no good way of collecting the feedback. Fortunately, there are a number of free tools out there that are designed specifically for gathering feedback in an organized and actionable way – no more patching together ideas from a long string of emails.

Step 4 – Ask Everyone to participate

You don’t need an expert to give you valuable advice about your latest website, just someone who is going to look at it seriously and give you an honest response.  Whatever you do, don’t be shy, get out there and share your business with anyone who’s willing to take lend a thought.

Step 5 – Ask the Right Questions

Make sure to clarify your objective. By providing direction ahead of time, you’re more likely to receive focused feedback that clearly addresses what you want to know. Instead of asking “what do you think?“, ask “what elements of this design catch your attention right away?” or “what confuses you most about this website?“. Also, try to keep it brief. Clear and concise directions generate specific and helpful feedback.

Step 6 – Make the Most out of your feedback

Whenever you’re faced with criticism, make sure to check your first reaction.  It takes a mature professional with the right attitude to be able to take genuine, constructive criticism and learn from it. Criticism never feels good at first, but once you’re able to take a step back from your design and look at it objectively, you can usually find something helpful.

Step 7 – Repeat Repeat Repeat

Feedback is an ongoing process. Don’t just stop after the first draft, continue to get feedback as you revise and improve your business. The more you times you repeat the process, the easier it will be to get in to the habit of asking for feedback and the better your product will be as a result. You will always be able to make changes according to your feedback and keep your customers happy.