Observations Over Opinions

"I don't like it" is not feedback.

It's an opinion. And opinions, without evidence, are hard to act on. But you have the power to give feedback that moves the needle.

Observations are different. "The button is 24px but the spec says 32px." "The layout breaks at 768px." "Users hesitated at step 3 in the flow." Those are observable. They can be verified. They can be fixed. Research on cognitive bias shows that anchoring, when the first piece of information shapes subsequent judgment, affects design reviews. When someone leads with "I don't like it," the whole discussion anchors on taste. When someone leads with "this doesn't match the spec," the discussion stays grounded. You can be the one who grounds it.

Evidence-based feedback has another advantage: it invites collaboration. "I noticed X" opens a conversation. "I think you should do Y" closes it. The designer can respond to an observation. They can't respond to "I don't like it" without guessing what to change. Imagine the impact when you lead with observation.

The best review cultures train people to observe first. What did you see? What's the evidence? Then, if needed: what do you think we should do? The observation grounds the opinion. The opinion without the observation is just noise. You have the power to create that culture.

Next time you give feedback, lead with what you saw. "The text is cut off here." "This flow has four steps when the old one had two." Let the observation do the work. Then see how much faster the fix happens. You have everything you need. Start today.