Vague feedback

Business Issues
#1

What are your strategies for dealing with vague feedback? How do you get clients to get better at articulating what they want from you?

At the moment, I am working on a 2-pager about a complex project that incorporates many people and components. The person I am working with on it asked for ‘an overall description of the project.’ So I came up with something, and the feedback was kind of like, ‘great, but we need an overall description of the project.’ So I’ve been kind of struggling to come up with something that satisfies him since I feel like I’m doing what he asks, but he doesn’t and isn’t able to tell me specifically what he wants me to do differently. It ends up wasting my time throwing spaghetti at the wall and it’s pretty demotivating to keep trying.

#2

a well formed creative brief that he either fills out independently or with your coaching should help with that. Many people have trouble vocalizing what it is they need or expect, especially if they aren’t designers or creatives.

With that being said, are you a writer? The reason I ask is the statement that he is asking for “an overall description of the project.” is worrying, to me. If it is their project or if they are the company managing the project, they should be able to better communicate to you what it is.

#3

It sounds like you probably need to ask a few more questions before doing any more work to understand what they’re expecting. It can be a little daunting and awkward but will avoid you having to guess what they want.

“Hey …, I thought I’d done a good job at describing the project, but it’s clear from your feedback I might have missed the mark, before I go away and revise it I want to understand what specifically you’re expecting to see in this paper so I can make sure I deliver something you’re happy with?”

#4

I’m a communications person at a University, so I’m designing and writing.

#5

Even if you are doing the writing, whoever is providing you the job needs t be able to articulate the overall project that they want you to design the piece for. I agree with @pluto that you may need to push back on them and get more clarification and communication from them.

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#6

Do you have any good references on creative briefs?

#7

I don’t off the top of my head, but just searching for well written or good creative briefs should help you to come up with an idea of what to ask and include. I’m an inhouse designer and generally have worked with most of my internal clients for years, so I don’t use creative briefs for my work, but I used to when I was doing some freelancing, but that was quite a while ago and I don’t have those briefs any longer.

#8

Was this conversation via email, over the phone, or in person? I’ve found that some people are unable or unwilling to write anything more than three or four lines long, but they will sometimes want to talk for an hour in person.

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#9

Yeh, you’re going to come up against this a lot.

I was asked to design a canteen area - and I followed the brief and submitted 5 on point mockups (because I knew how it was going to go with this person before I even started).

Then all came back with negative feedback, not what they wanted, not what the brief was (even though it was).

So, 3 of us set about to create the designs, 1 did a on-brief as before, another did a variation of a theme they kinda liked, and I did a completely out there, off brief, not what they asked for.

And finally they came back and said YES to mine - a jungle theme, with animals, grass, trees, and animals that don’t belong together - but it was EXACTLY what they were looking for…

Here’s some tips:

Clarify what they want. Repeat back what they’ve said in your own words, prompt them to refine their request. For example, “When you say ‘an overall description,’ are you looking for a high-level summary, or something that highlights specific milestones or impacts?”

Provide 2–3 quick mockups or sample (found on internet - this company does this do you like this?) approaches to help narrow down their preference. People often don’t know what they want until they see what they don’t want.

Guide them with questions. Like others suggested, asking direct, open-ended questions can be helpful. One of my favourites is: “What’s the primary takeaway or message you want readers to have after reading this?” This shifts the focus to outcomes, which can clarify their expectations.

Developing a lightweight briefing document or checklist can save time - not for them to fill out - ask the questions, jot down the answers - they don’t have to be in order, but just in conversation.

Who is the audience for this?
What’s the primary goal of the document?
Are there specific elements or sections you’d like included?

Request conversations if email exchanges aren’t working, suggest a quick 15-minute call or meeting. Verbal cues and live clarification can often make the process smoother. After the meeting fire off an email outlining everything you discussed.

I’ve been in a similar position where vague feedback felt like a brick wall, and what ultimately helped was showing I wanted to collaborate to reach a clearer understanding. It’s also a great way to build rapport and mutual respect with the client.

Sometimes you need to nudge stakeholders to provide clarity - because they aren’t clear themselves on what they want.

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