Feedback means so much

Getting no feedback at all is every entrepreneur’s nightmare.

If you are like me, you have probably visited a bunch of websites, apps and heard ideas from friends and colleagues. Some of them are brilliant, some of them suck. You maybe think the idea or implementation can be improved in a few ways, but you don’t say anything.

You should.

Feedback is so important to developers, entrepreneurs and everyone building something. I prefer hearing someone tell me that my new shiny website really suck – and giving a reason why – instead of launching to crickets. Getting no feedback at all is every entrepreneur’s nightmare.

So do your friends (both offline and online) a favor. Next time you see someone launching something. Give them your honest feedback.

A few rules that I try to follow when giving feedback:

Keep negative feedback private

Some people can handle critizism well, but others don’t. Don’t post your negative feedback publicly if it can be avoided. A private message or an e-mail works well.

Share genuine, positive feedback openly

Everyone love getting good feedback. They will probably love you even more if you post it on your Twitter feed or directly on the comment section of their blog/facebook page.

Mix negative and positive

I find that the best constructive feedback always contain both something positive and something negative. Start with a compliment about something you like, then address a few issues and finish by thanking for something. This way, your feedback will probably have an impact.

Saying “I just saw you your new app. Great idea! I think you should consider changing the color from blue to pink since you’re using that color in your broshures and definitely add a Facebook login button, but overall you’re doing a really good job!” sounds so much better than “You should change the color to pink and add a Facebook login button.” … don’t you agree?

So now it is your turn. Give some honest and helpful feedback to someone!