I began my first full-time job as a designer back in 2004 for a real estate company in Rotorua. The fast pace of the real estate industry meant I had to learn to code and design in a quick and efficient manner, but unfortunately since I was the sole designer (in fact I was the sole “IT guy”), I had nobody else to learn from, bounce ideas with or even discuss the latest happenings in print or web media.

Over the next 5 years at that job, I worked on a number of projects and received a lot of feedback and criticism. Unfortunately not all of it was constructive and the opportunity to improve and upskill was virtually non-existent.

Fast-forward to today, and I am working alongside some of the best people in their fields here at Eventfinder. By surrounding myself with others who are more experienced than I am, together we can critique, refine and improve whatever project we are working on. My co-workers have been in the game for a lot longer than me, and they have seen trends come and go, but ultimately standards never go out of style.

As a web designer, it’s hard to break out of my usual habits when designing a particular product or coding in a particular manner. To receive constructive feedback from my co-workers is extremely important so that we can release products that are modern, user-friendly and efficient at what they do.

I firmly believe that receiving detailed responses for any piece of work I produce is an opportunity not to be missed. Constructive feedback from others (no matter what their computer skills are like) can show another perspective that I might not have thought of. I often design and code with my blinkers on. It has challenged me to take that project to the next level; it can point out areas where I have made mistakes, it has motivated me to learn new skills; and perhaps most importantly it has improved my communication skills. And of course, a slice of humble pie always helps too. All of these things are essential for anyone to be successful in their respective field, particularly web designers.

Eventfinder will soon be releasing another major new product, and throughout the entire process (between 3 to 6 months) I have attended numerous design review sessions and development meetings about this particular product’s progress and direction. This presented a huge opportunity to not only take on the biggest project I’ve ever been given, but also a fantastic chance to receive feedback on my design and coding style, and improve upon it as much as possible. We continually worked in a positive feedback loop throughout the project build to give the best results.

Luckily here at Eventfinder my co-workers are extremely talented and professional at what they do, and since they’re so closely involved with the company’s direction, they immediately understood the goals I was trying to achieve with this particular product. They were able to provide the right kind of unbiased and actionable feedback I was specifically after. There were numerous open-ended questions and a large amount of valuable and detailed comments that were articulate and defined.

With the right attitude I put aside my emotions and pride for the moment, realised my shortcomings and used their valuable feedback as motivation to improve the product, learned a few new skills, and pushed myself to levels I’ve never reached before.

Thankfully my co-workers were extremely honest, and while there were a few surprises, on the whole their responses were positive and supportive with no malice or ignorance whatsoever. Everybody gave their educated and detailed opinions so in the end, we could collectively fulfill our goal of building the best product possible.

In the past I improved my designs solely based on inspiration from other designers because I was working on my own, but here at Eventfinder, I am constantly finding inspiration from my co-workers’ constructive criticism and valuable feedback. Thanks team!