GET SOCIAL: #5 HOW TO GIVE FEEDBACK

Get Social! #5
Today: How to Give Feedback

Social interactions are a wonderful little thing,
but something many people struggle with.
The internet is a place seemingly full of socially awkward and shy people trying their best.
And while it is more comfortable online, it is easier to fall into traps.
Conversation still follows the same principles as in real life,
so here is a little help along the way!


We all give feedback every day, from commenting on what people do and what they createe. From commenting on that new jacket to prereading articles to actively teaching someone, we use feedback. And rmn is a site thriving on feedback.

Before you shoot away, sit back and think about why you are giving feedback, and where your personal interests lie. Giving a short response on how something feels or felt for you, whether it was enjoyable or not is in itself a good thing.
It may not give the creator any details to work with, but is a response to whether he did a good job or not so much.

Giving feedback boils down to wanting to give our thoughts on a matter, and/or wanting someone improve. Depending on how you formulate it, however, it can easily be ignored, misunderstood or downright hurtful to the person you are giving feedback to. We are here aiming to deliver constructive, detailed feedback.

You should note where your preferences are - for our games, what genre do you like/dislike? What elements are you very picky with? Are there aspects you enjoyed/did not enjoy which you know other people may experience differently?
Pointing these out while you go along can go a long way to give better feedback.

We also sometimes shy away from negative feedback, because we want to be liked or we do not want to hurt someone - which is possibly a much stronger feeling in real life. But we need to remember we want to give feedback on how things are now, and how they could develop better in the future.

If you are aiming to delve deeper, then follow this.


1. Cool Down (if you have to), Collect your Thoughts

So you playtested a game.
If it was a horrible experience, you want to voice it. But if your feedback is driven by these negative emotions, chances are people will notice. They will.

Like taking in critique, it is wise to cool down and take your time - nobody did anything to you that requires your immediate attention. Do yourself something nice, voice your frustration somewhere safe if you have to. If you want to give the most constructive feedback possible, you will need to do so when you are calm.
Alternatively, sum up the experience in a brief comment and go into the detailed feedback later.

The same is true for a very positive experience! Of course, giving off your positivity is a huge boost for the one receiving and can be done freely, but you should still sit back and think about where you were put off somewhere. And where this could go even better. If you think you may miss a few points in your enthusiasm, take your time to calm down as well.



2. Ask Them to Rate Themselves

This is not always possible, as you are often not in direct dialogue when doing so. Especially on the internetz.

Chatting and in real life, this one is very important to keep in mind!

How do you think you did?
Where do you think you excel, where are your weaknesses?

People are much, much more receptive if they are approaching the issues themselves - if they are involved in the process and if they feel they are safe.
Passing the ball to them not only gives you insight into what they are aware of (or not aware of), but is also something to base your feedback on and examples to start out with. Most of the time people are well aware of their weak areas, even if they cannot always spot the exact mistakes! And if they already talked about the weak areas, you can do so without stepping onto unseen toes.

Asking first may also tell us someone is, or is not ready yet to take in extensive feedback.

3. Be Specific

Clarity and precision is key - give exact examples demonstrating your points. If you have ideas for improvement, give exact examples incorporating these ideas.
No beating around the bush.

For example, if you talk about expanding the story. You felt there was too little meat on the bones.
So you may point out that no character ever got any background story - they always introduce themselves in the situation by name, but that is all they do.
That rough guy could have been a mercenary before you met him, or that girl the daughter of a merchant, with how picky she is with money.

Focus on what the actual game had in it. If you say the graphics are bad, or the mapping is bad - how are they bad? Are they simply not aesthetically pleasing? Do you lack any sense of direction? Are they too large?

Stay objective. Do not attack the person behind the game, nor judge why he did it a certain way.

- Now for a game break -
This is especially true if you are in a more personal situation dealing with how someone acts, focus on the acts. In person, We see what often ends in a fight "You don't care about your work" "You're not interested" "You always..."

You cannot know why they did it, just focus on what they have actually been doing, or neglected to do, and then ask why and whether they are aware of it.
We are trying to influence what someone is doing anyway. No matter the motivation, if they get it done, that is all that matters.
"You left the client waiting on wednesday"

4. Mix Good and Bad

The ideal is to sandwich the bad into good points. Point out a great asset, then a problem, then another great asset.

More than the number alone, even if you cannot always find many more good points than problems, it is important to explain them in just as great detail - why it worked as well. How did they make it so good?

If someting worked great in a game, point out how it worked and why. It will be easier to recreate and expand on that way. And building on your strengths is as important as ironing weaknesses out.

5. Give Time

You thought about all these problems beforehand - they did most likely not. They probably did not even notice most of what you brought up. No matter how obvious it seems from your perspective. The whole idea of feedback is to bring thoughts and issues to attention that the other was not aware of.

Give them time to think your points through. They may also need to calm down first before they can answer. Yes, in real life, too. Tell them they can answer later! Being present can give off the urge to solve it right away, but there is no need to. They need to know, but they can give a proper reaction later. So give them all the time they need to respond.



Feedback is crucial to improve effectively and to see flaws you could not before - so giving good feedback is invaluable!
Be nice and keep in mind that you want to help someone improve, not just throw their flaws at them.