So you wish your clients would give you clear, organized feedback on their designs. But all you’re getting is one-word or one-sentence answers and unclear feedback like, “could you make the design pop more?” or “it doesn’t quite feel right”.

Sometimes, getting high-quality feedback on your designs is like searching for a unicorn.

Today, I’m going to break down how you can get top quality client feedback.

I have a question for you: what is the worst or most unhelpful feedback you’ve received?

Someone asked this question in my Facebook group, The Designer Collective, and the unhelpful feedback designers were receiving was:

“I totally trust your design eye, but…”

“I don’t know what I want, but I’ll know when I see it.”

“I want something quirkier.”

Feedback like this isn’t helpful because it doesn’t help us as designers understand what the client truly wants, it’s too vague.

Vague client feedback either leads you to complete revision after revision and still not get the design right, or leads you to ask question after question to squeeze clearer feedback from them, which can take days.

Why do some clients provide vague feedback like this?