Why is the newsletter called Dear Students?
Because the best designers, educators, and leaders never stop being students.
Dear Students,
As an instructor, I've heard comments like:
Students don't want feedback.
Students don't listen.
Students ignore suggestions.
Students are resistant to change.
But after years of teaching and mentoring designers, I've found something different. Most students aren't refusing feedback. They're responding to what feedback feels like.
There's an important difference between rejecting feedback and struggling to process it. When we fail to recognize that difference, the feedback gap grows wider.
From the Outside, It Looks Like They Don't Care
When students become defensive, shut down during critiques, ignore suggestions, or repeat the same mistakes, it's easy to assume they simply don't care.
But the questions we should be asking are:
- Why are they feeling defensive?
- Have they learned the skills to separate themselves from the work?
- Are they open to understanding why something is or isn't working?
When students make the same mistakes repeatedly, they often are not absorbing the why behind the feedback. This can be frustrating for both instructors and students, but it points to a deeper issue that needs to be addressed.
Teaching large groups of students and meeting everyone where they are, can be overwhelming. Still, the focus needs to remain on helping students understand the problem in front of them and why the feedback matters.
One of the amazing things about design is that there is not one correct solution, but rather dozens of valid solutions. The goal is not to get students to copy an answer. The goal is to help them to understand how to solve the problem.
These defensive behaviors are often interpreted as resistance.
But behavior is usually a symptom, not the cause.
So instead of focusing on the defensive behavior itself, focus on what might be causing it.
Sometimes the Problem Isn't the Feedback
Sometimes the problem is the experience surrounding the feedback.
Students may not know what good looks like.
They may not know how far revisions should go.
They may not know which comments matter most.
These are learned skills.
Students do not walk into a design class already knowing how to evaluate feedback, prioritize revisions, or navigate critique. Yet instructors sometimes expect those skills to exist from day one. I have been guilty of this expectation myself.
Last semester, a student in an advanced class asked me: "Is getting this much feedback typical for a designer?"
My answer was simple: "Absolutely."
What surprised me wasn't the question itself. It was that the amount of feedback felt unusual to the student at an advanced level.
Why was feedback viewed as something negative instead of an opportunity to improve?
Part of teaching design is pushing students beyond the expected. Even when a project is acceptable, I still ask questions.
· Why did you make that choice for…color, font, element, etc.?
· Who is the audience?
· What problem are you solving?
Those questions help students think deeper than the visual solution.
When expectations are unclear, changing direction feels risky.
When Feedback Conflicts
Students often hear different opinions from different people.
One instructor says simplify.
Another says add more.
One professional says follow trends.
Another says avoid trends.
Students are not resisting feedback. They're trying to determine which feedback to trust.
Learning how to evaluate feedback is a skill just like learning typography, layout, or color theory.
When Feedback Feels Overwhelming
Students may receive twenty comments at once from the instructor and peers.
When everything seems to need improvement, it can be difficult to know where to begin.
It's also natural to experience fear.
Fear of failure.
Fear of disappointing instructors.
Fear of looking incompetent.
Fear of discovering you're not as prepared as you thought.
Sometimes the hardest part of feedback isn't hearing what's wrong.
It's realizing how much work remains.
Design Feels Personal
Creative work is visible.
Students invest time, effort, and often part of their identity into every project.
As a result, critiques can feel personal even when they are not intended that way.
Feedback aimed at improving the work can sometimes feel like criticism of the person who created it.
So how do we work around that?
Ask questions.
Get them thinking.
Get them involved in the discussion.
Let them explain and defend the decisions they made.
Even if they did not consciously think about those things during the design process, they will be expected to answer these questions as professionals. The sooner they become comfortable discussing their decisions, the better prepared they will be.
With every project, my students submit a reflection that explains why they made the decisions they made. Over time, those reflections become stronger because students begin thinking about those questions before they even start designing.
Misunderstanding the Response Creates a Larger Gap
When instructors assume resistance, feedback often becomes shorter, less effective, and focused on completion rather than understanding.
Now, to be clear, I have worked with students who were genuinely unwilling to consider feedback. Some hold firmly to the belief that their solution is already the best solution and see little value in exploring alternatives. Those situations absolutely exist.
But I've found they are far less common than we often assume.
More often, what appears to be resistance is uncertainty, frustration, fear, confusion, or a lack of experience evaluating design objectively. The challenge is learning to recognize the difference.
I've found that when a student responds with, "I like it how it is," it can be difficult to continue the conversation because they appear closed off to feedback.
It would be easy to stop there.
But I remind myself that I have a responsibility not only to the student receiving the feedback, but also to everyone listening.
Some of my most valuable learning experiences came from watching critiques of other people's work. Sometimes I learned more from those discussions than from feedback on my own projects.
Even when a student seems resistant, there is still value in explaining the reasoning behind the feedback. Other students are listening. They are learning how to evaluate work, ask questions, and think critically about design decisions.
I also strongly believe in straightforward rubrics and consistent expectations.
All students are held to the same standards.
Some may see that as harsh. I see it as preparation.
We are preparing students for a profession.
The ability to receive feedback, evaluate it, adapt, and continue improving is part of the job.
I often tell students that when you're working with a client, the work isn't about you. It's about helping the client achieve their goals.
However, when you understand design principles and can explain your decisions, you gain the ability to educate clients. And when clients understand your thinking, they begin to trust you.
The moment we label every difficult reaction as resistance, we stop asking what caused the reaction in the first place.
When students feel misunderstood, engagement drops, confidence decreases, and growth slows.
Not every student who pushes back is resistant to learning. Sometimes they're still learning how to receive feedback. Sometimes they're trying to protect work they've invested themselves in. Sometimes they simply don't yet understand the problem the feedback is trying to solve.
The more accurately we identify the response, the more effectively we can help students grow.
Responding Instead of Reacting
Before defending your work, ask yourself:
- What problem is this feedback trying to solve?
- What am I being asked to improve?
- What evidence supports this suggestion?
Ask questions until you clearly understand the feedback.
Ask why, not just what.
Look for patterns.
Consider the audience.
Consider the context.
And if you don't like a specific suggestion, find a different solution that addresses the same problem.
Feedback is meant to improve the work.
When feedback feels overwhelming, identify the top three priorities and focus on one issue at a time.
You don't have to agree with every piece of feedback.
But understanding it should come before dismissing it.
Final Thoughts
Most students want to improve.
Most instructors want students to succeed.
Yet somewhere between giving feedback and applying it, a gap often forms.
The solution isn't assuming every difficult reaction is resistance.
It's understanding what they're responding to.
Because when we understand the response, we can finally address the real obstacle standing in the way of growth.
In design truth,
Maggie