3 years ago I was hired as a coach and mentor for a UX Strategy and Design team at an agency. I had never worked in this role before, but had relevant experience. I had worked as a creative director, UX strategist, designer and information architect for almost 20 years. I had the same background as those I was coaching. I had navigated the bumpy road from novice to expert and felt ready to share back.

Getting good design feedback hard. Clients often share feedback using words and ideas that that can be unclear for designers. For example, I once received feedback to “make it more awesome.” While this feedback was clearly communicated, I felt unsure how to achieve said “awesomeness.”

Over time I learned to translate client feedback into ideas and concepts that gave me more to work with. I began relying on the Principles of Design as a set of ideas and vocabulary terms to help me bridge the linguistic gap between myself and my clients.

I’d like to share what I’ve learned so perhaps you can learn this skill faster than I did.