Thread by @morganknutson

IMO, there are two reasons that designers are afraid to show their work early and collaborate like this:

1. Insecurity
2. A team or boss who aren’t capable of providing constructive criticism

Ideally, designers should feel comfortable letting people in ASAP.

https://twitter.com/joshhemsley/status/1061096574766395392

Mountaintops are lonely and isolated.

The fact is that we designers don’t have all the answers, and more often than not other folks will have insight that you could never have gained without them.

It can be tough to learn how to let go and collaborate efficiently.

A great way to start doing this is to set boundaries. You can do this verbally, and by sequestering the work that you’re collaborating on.

Essentially, you can narrow the scope of the feedback by narrowing the field of view.

This has its downsides and it’s often more valuable to open everything up so the people that you’re collaborating with can have a more holistic view of the work you’re doing.

Obviously, not every single person at a company will be great at providing feedback and you’ll have to learn that through trial and error, and potentially put in the effort to teach them how to be constructive.

This starts to get into “everyone is a designer” territory which is a philosophical position that scares and enrages most designers, especially out of the fear of self-obsolescence and more insecurity.

Once you get over this, you realize that your job becomes much easier because the people around you will do more to improve your work - and pull it across the finish line - while leaving you in a position of authority in your purview e.g. “what is good, and what is bad”.

Again, this tough. And it’s tougher when you’re fresh, and tougher when you don’t work with high caliber people.

Thanks for kicking off an important and heated discussion around this @joshhemsley. Super valuable and contentious topic for everyone.