Stop judging, start supporting

Judging is easy

Judging costs nothing. It takes a few seconds to say that something is ugly, derivative or wrong, and it can even feel like expertise. Supporting takes more: understanding the constraints someone worked under, asking what they were trying to achieve and offering something that might actually make the next version better. That is why judgement is everywhere and support is rare.

Critical of the work, when it helps

This is not an argument against criticism. I am strict about work, and I believe honest critique is a form of respect. But criticism should serve a purpose: helping the work improve or helping the person grow. When it does neither, when it is just a verdict delivered from a distance, it is noise, however clever it sounds.

Supportive of the person, always

Whatever I think of the work, I try to be supportive of the person behind it. Designers rarely make poor decisions because they don’t care. They make them under deadlines, budgets, clients and constraints nobody outside can see. Recognising that changes the tone of every conversation. It turns a review into a collaboration and a junior’s mistake into a lesson rather than a mark against them.

A culture worth building

Teams and communities where people support each other learn faster, take braver risks and stay longer. I would much rather build that kind of culture than win an argument about someone else’s work. And the more experience I gain, the more convinced I am that the best designers are not the harshest judges. They are the ones others want to show their work to.