What do you do if you're consistently getting negative feedback across all design options you're collecting insights around?
Question Analysis
This question aims to assess how you handle criticism and feedback, particularly in a creative or design context. It evaluates your ability to remain open-minded, adapt to new information, and improve your work based on constructive criticism. The interviewer is looking to understand your problem-solving skills, resilience, and ability to collaborate and communicate effectively with stakeholders. This is a behavioral question, so applying the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method is appropriate.
Answer
Situation:
In my previous role as a graphic designer, I was tasked with developing a series of design options for a new marketing campaign. After presenting the initial concepts, I consistently received negative feedback from both the marketing team and focus group participants.
Task:
My responsibility was to address these concerns, refine the designs, and ensure that the final product met the stakeholders' expectations and aligned with the campaign's objectives.
Action:
- Active Listening: I organized a feedback session with the marketing team and some key focus group members to better understand their perspectives. I encouraged them to be specific about what wasn't working for them.
- Clarification and Prioritization: I asked clarifying questions to ensure I fully comprehended their feedback and prioritized the main issues to address.
- Collaboration: I collaborated with the marketing team to brainstorm new ideas and explored different design approaches that could incorporate their feedback.
- Iterative Design Process: I applied the feedback to develop revised design options, which I periodically reviewed with the team to ensure alignment with their expectations.
Result:
The revised designs received positive feedback and were successfully implemented in the campaign. This process not only improved the final output but also strengthened my relationship with the team and stakeholders, demonstrating my ability to effectively use feedback to enhance my work.