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Avoid absolutes—"This is the worst design I've ever seen," might describe how you feel, but is demonstrably not true. (For clarity, I'm talking about BuzzFeed's design, but the 20 sites featured in the article are pretty bad too.)

Analyze the root problem—If you don't like some aspect of the design, try to answer the question "why?". Maybe the new color scheme doesn't work for color-blind or visually impaired folks. Or maybe they remind you of your alma mater's crosstown rival. Either way, explaining the real problem is more productive than "the colors suck".

Consider waiting a bit—How many times have you seen a website you use every day make some change to their UI that's really jarring but isn't a problem a week later? I really hate change, but it doesn't take me long to acclimate to it.

Try rephrasing rather than rehashing—We probably read the answer posted on another question, so there's no reason to repeat it verbatim. Meanwhile, rephrasing the criticism can often help. For instance, sometimes a CM will suggest a change to a design before we show it to meta, but the designers and developers go forward with their own idea. Once we show it to you, the community of users, the same issue (phrased in a new way) might come up and the design gets fixed based on that feedback. I'm not offended; I'm happy we can get the best design.

We're benevolent benevolent dictators—We've always been up front and forthcoming about new revenue streams especially when they drive major changes, and we try to communicate as far in advance of anything big as possible. That we don't decide to change course based on feedback isn't a symptom of not listening to it, but the animosity that this seems to create might be a symptom of us not communicating clearly enough. We'll try to do better, but please don't default to the worst scenario, it can mask sincerity and rob it of the consideration some complain we're not delivering. We're human, too, and very invested in this along with you, 'jabs' certainly don't help and often honestly hurt. Jabs come in many forms, but implying that we're doing something for hidden reasons makes your feedback difficult to internalize or act upon.

Avoid absolutes—"This is the worst design I've ever seen," might describe how you feel, but is demonstrably not true. (For clarity, I'm talking about BuzzFeed's design, but the 20 sites featured in the article are pretty bad too.)

Analyze the root problem—If you don't like some aspect of the design, try to answer the question "why?". Maybe the new color scheme doesn't work for color-blind or visually impaired folks. Or maybe they remind you of your alma mater's crosstown rival. Either way, explaining the real problem is more productive than "the colors suck".

Consider waiting a bit—How many times have you seen a website you use every day make some change to their UI that's really jarring but isn't a problem a week later? I really hate change, but it doesn't take me long to acclimate to it.

Try rephrasing rather than rehashing—We probably read the answer posted on another question, so there's no reason to repeat it verbatim. Meanwhile, rephrasing the criticism can often help. For instance, sometimes a CM will suggest a change to a design before we show it to meta, but the designers and developers go forward with their own idea. Once we show it to you, the community of users, the same issue (phrased in a new way) might come up and the design gets fixed based on that feedback. I'm not offended; I'm happy we can get the best design.

We're benevolent benevolent dictators—We've always been up front and forthcoming about new revenue streams especially when they drive major changes, and we try to communicate as far in advance of anything big as possible. That we don't decide to change course based on feedback isn't a symptom of not listening to it, but the animosity that this seems to create might be a symptom of us not communicating clearly enough. We'll try to do better, but please don't default to the worst scenario. It can mask sincerity and rob it of the consideration some complain we're not delivering. We're human, too, and very invested in this along with you, so 'jabs' certainly don't help and often honestly hurt. Jabs come in many forms, but implying that we're doing something for hidden reasons makes your feedback difficult to internalize or act upon.

Avoid absolutes—"This is the worst design I've ever seen," might describe how you feel, but is demonstrably not true. (For clarity, I'm talking about BuzzFeed's design, but the 20 sites featured in the article are pretty bad too.)

Analyze the root problem—If you don't like some aspect of the design, try to answer the question "why?". Maybe the new color scheme doesn't work for color-blind or visually impaired folks. Or maybe they remind you of your alma mater's crosstown rival. Either way, explaining the real problem is more productive than "the colors suck".

Consider waiting a bit—How many times have you seen a website you use every day make some change to their UI that's really jarring but isn't a problem a week later? I really hate change, but it doesn't take me long to acclimate to it.

Try rephrasing rather than rehashing—We probably read the answer posted on another question, so there's no reason to repeat it verbatim. Meanwhile, rephrasing the criticism can often help. For instance, sometimes a CM will suggest a change to a design before we show it to meta, but the designers and developers go forward with their own idea. Once we show it to you, the community of users, the same issue (phrased in a new way) might come up and the design gets fixed based on that feedback. I'm not offended; I'm happy we can get the best design.

We're benevolent benevolent dictators—We've always been up front and forthcoming about new revenue streams especially when they drive major changes, and we try to communicate as far in advance of anything big as possible. That we don't decide to change course based on feedback isn't a symptom of not listening to it, but the animosity that this seems to create might be a symptom of us not communicating clearly enough. We'll try to do better, but please don't default to the worst scenario, it can mask sincerity and rob it of the consideration some complain we're not delivering. We're human, too, and very invested in this along with you, 'jabs' certainly don't help and often honestly hurt.

Avoid absolutes—"This is the worst design I've ever seen," might describe how you feel, but is demonstrably not true. (For clarity, I'm talking about BuzzFeed's design, but the 20 sites featured in the article are pretty bad too.)

Analyze the root problem—If you don't like some aspect of the design, try to answer the question "why?". Maybe the new color scheme doesn't work for color-blind or visually impaired folks. Or maybe they remind you of your alma mater's crosstown rival. Either way, explaining the real problem is more productive than "the colors suck".

Consider waiting a bit—How many times have you seen a website you use every day make some change to their UI that's really jarring but isn't a problem a week later? I really hate change, but it doesn't take me long to acclimate to it.

Try rephrasing rather than rehashing—We probably read the answer posted on another question, so there's no reason to repeat it verbatim. Meanwhile, rephrasing the criticism can often help. For instance, sometimes a CM will suggest a change to a design before we show it to meta, but the designers and developers go forward with their own idea. Once we show it to you, the community of users, the same issue (phrased in a new way) might come up and the design gets fixed based on that feedback. I'm not offended; I'm happy we can get the best design.

We're benevolent benevolent dictators—We've always been up front and forthcoming about new revenue streams especially when they drive major changes, and we try to communicate as far in advance of anything big as possible. That we don't decide to change course based on feedback isn't a symptom of not listening to it, but the animosity that this seems to create might be a symptom of us not communicating clearly enough. We'll try to do better, but please don't default to the worst scenario, it can mask sincerity and rob it of the consideration some complain we're not delivering. We're human, too, and very invested in this along with you, 'jabs' certainly don't help and often honestly hurt. Jabs come in many forms, but implying that we're doing something for hidden reasons makes your feedback difficult to internalize or act upon.

Avoid absolutes—"This is the worst design I've ever seen," might describe how you feel, but is demonstrably not true. (For clarity, I'm talking about BuzzFeed's design, but the 20 sites featured in the article are pretty bad too.)

Analyze the root problem—If you don't like some aspect of the design, try to answer the question "why?". Maybe the new color scheme doesn't work for color-blind or visually impaired folks. Or maybe they remind you of your alma mater's crosstown rival. Either way, explaining the real problem is more productive than "the colors suck".

Consider waiting a bit—How many times have you seen a website you use every day make some change to their UI that's really jarring but isn't a problem a week later? I really hate change, but it doesn't take me long to acclimate to it.

Try rephrasing rather than rehashing—We probably read the answer posted on another question, so there's no reason to repeat it verbatim. Meanwhile, rephrasing the criticism can often help. For instance, sometimes a CM will suggest a change to a design before we show it to meta, but the designers and developers go forward with their own idea. Once we show it to you, the community of users, the same issue (phrased in a new way) might come up and the design gets fixed based on that feedback. I'm not offended; I'm happy we can get the best design.

Don't bother accusing us of hidden agendas—It's odd to me that people don't believe our stated reasoning for making changes. Further, I can't see what possible benefit there is to telling us we must have some nefarious reason for what we do. (If this were prompted by new revenue streams, we'd be happy to tell you about them. Unfortunately, we're just paying down technical debt this time around.) Frankly, I find these accusations insulting and I'm much less sympathetic to whatever criticism there might be.

Avoid absolutes—"This is the worst design I've ever seen," might describe how you feel, but is demonstrably not true. (For clarity, I'm talking about BuzzFeed's design, but the 20 sites featured in the article are pretty bad too.)

Analyze the root problem—If you don't like some aspect of the design, try to answer the question "why?". Maybe the new color scheme doesn't work for color-blind or visually impaired folks. Or maybe they remind you of your alma mater's crosstown rival. Either way, explaining the real problem is more productive than "the colors suck".

Consider waiting a bit—How many times have you seen a website you use every day make some change to their UI that's really jarring but isn't a problem a week later? I really hate change, but it doesn't take me long to acclimate to it.

Try rephrasing rather than rehashing—We probably read the answer posted on another question, so there's no reason to repeat it verbatim. Meanwhile, rephrasing the criticism can often help. For instance, sometimes a CM will suggest a change to a design before we show it to meta, but the designers and developers go forward with their own idea. Once we show it to you, the community of users, the same issue (phrased in a new way) might come up and the design gets fixed based on that feedback. I'm not offended; I'm happy we can get the best design.

We're benevolent benevolent dictators—We've always been up front and forthcoming about new revenue streams especially when they drive major changes, and we try to communicate as far in advance of anything big as possible. That we don't decide to change course based on feedback isn't a symptom of not listening to it, but the animosity that this seems to create might be a symptom of us not communicating clearly enough. We'll try to do better, but please don't default to the worst scenario, it can mask sincerity and rob it of the consideration some complain we're not delivering. We're human, too, and very invested in this along with you, 'jabs' certainly don't help and often honestly hurt.