As a designer or developer, you cannot work in a bubble. Unless you're building stuff for yourself only,

other people are going to see, use, and give feedback on the work that you do.

If you cannot handle critiques every once in a while, working in the tech industry is going to be a tough challenge.

Then again, understanding the feedback you receive

and how we can inform improvements in your future work can be a very powerful thing.

The ability to see a different perspective is incredibly valuable.

Knowing what others are thinking, whether it's through Google analytics or surveys or usability testing, is incredibly valuable,

so don't short change the insight that your own team member or clients can give you too.

Getting feedback that can improve your work and being open to using it pays for itself every time.

If you let people know that you welcome feedback, sometimes you'll get helpful information, and other times you won't.

While the difference between positive and negative feedback is usually pretty easy to spot,

identifying constructive feedback versus criticism can be a little more difficult.

Reporting on a broken shopping cart or typo or link that goes nowhere is fairly cut and dry.

Other times, people will provide feedback that might seem more like opinion than anything helpful.

Either way, breaking their feedback down to its core components helps you understand the issues

and if what they've found is actually a problem or not.

What are the facts of their report? How does it affect the users or the project, if at all,

and if so, does a potential solution present itself?

Consider the feedback and evaluate its validity and then take action.

If things are unclear, circle back to them, ask for clarification.

The worst thing you can do is ignore a problem because of bad communication.

Make sure you understand the concern, because an unresolved problem can turn into many more problems down the road.

In the end, be honest and face the feedback that you receive.

Just because you designed or coded something doesn't mean that it's perfect.

Accept that you will make mistakes along the way, and learn to rely on others to help you improve the work you do.

We can't be perfect all the time.

Whatever the outcome of the feedback is, thank that person that reported it, and if necessary,

let them know how and when the problem will be resolved.

Being open to feedback means a willingness to be flexible, to change, to improve the projects that you work on.

It means you're open to communication and you want to make things better.

You cannot ask for a better teammate or colleague than someone that does this.

So, be that person, accept help from others, and they will listen to you when you want to share feedback as well.