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Article Experience & Interaction Education
Before collecting feedback, define what it could change
In research plans, if feedback is still collected first and sorted into changes later, the result is usually plenty of feedback and nothing changed. The safer approach is to state, before collecting, which kinds of feedback will change which decisions, and lock that choice in with a change list.
Key points
- In research plans, feedback should no longer mean collecting first and working out what to change later.
- Left alone, the same thing keeps happening: plenty of feedback, and nothing changes because of it.
- Start instead from this: before collecting, state which kinds of feedback will change which decisions.
- Write the choice into the change list, owned by the experience lead.
- From then on, sign off against one question: if this kind of feedback comes in, which decision will change?
01Where feedback stalls
In research plans, feedback is usually framed as: collect first, see what can change later. Everyone nods along because the real problem hasn't surfaced yet: plenty of feedback, and nothing changes because of it.
The meeting wraps up quickly. Once the people who actually use the feedback leave the room, all they're left holding is this: plenty of feedback, and nothing changes because of it.
Before collecting, state which kinds of feedback will change which decisions. Until that happens, feedback is still stuck at collect first, decide later.
02Where feedback really gets stuck
The sticking point isn't the writing. “Collect first, see what can change later” fits so many situations that it can't prevent the outcome: plenty of feedback, and nothing changes because of it.
When more people turn to feedback for answers at once, it only grows more abstract, and the old problem returns to the table: plenty of feedback, and nothing changes because of it.
03Redefining feedback
A more useful starting point: before collecting anything, write down which kind of feedback would change which decision. Only once you've spelled out what you'll say no to does feedback begin to carry real choices.
Hold on to 'collect first, then see what we can change' and the language reads more smoothly, but the problem remains: plenty of feedback, and nothing changes because of it.
04Turning feedback into a tool
Write this starting point up as a change list. For feedback, this one page does more than yet another, longer brief.
Before research begins, check against the change list and nothing else. Don't reinvent what feedback means in every discussion.
05Who owns feedback
Ownership has to sit with a named person: the experience lead. Feedback without an owner gets rewritten at the first conflict.
Sign-off comes down to one question: if this kind of feedback appears, which decision changes? If you can't answer, the feedback isn't yet a decision.
Framework
The four layers of feedback
From what is non-negotiable to tools that work on the ground, each layer answers a single question, so feedback doesn't slide back into 'collect first, then see what we can change.'
L1Decisions it will change
This layer defines what in the feedback is non-negotiable.
L2What we won't collect
This layer turns feedback into conditions that can be checked.
L3After feedback
This layer sets out what feedback may change in different contexts.
L4Closing the loop
This layer hands feedback to the people who use it and spells out the exceptions.
Note: This diagram is a conceptual framework. It explains a way of thinking and is not statistical data. Source: Qingmei Future Insights.
Recommended actions
Action 01
Start from the site
In the research plan, mark the moments when feedback is actually put to use, rather than starting by rewording 'collect first, then see what we can change.'
Action 02
Keep it to one page
Replace the longer brief with a change list, keeping only what supports 'before collecting, define which kind of feedback will change which decision.'
Action 03
Judge it by one question
Before research begins, ask only: if this kind of feedback appears, which decision changes? If there's no answer, it isn't yet a decision.
Action 04
Name the owner
The experience lead. Feedback without an owner gets quietly altered when conflicts arise.
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