Showing your work. What does it really do?

We’ve all been there. Burning the midnight oil. Locked in on the peak of a project. It’s going well, but it needs to be better. You’ve run into a problem, you look at it from every angle, try every solution, but no matter what — you just seem to be stuck in this particular phase. So, what do you do?

“I’ll take a break!” shouts a student from the back of the class.

“I’ll keep trying!” exclaims another.

Although these aren’t horrible ideas they’ve missed the blindingly obvious solution staring them in the face.

SHARE WITH THE CLASS!

One of the first things we were taught as kids is to show and tell, or to present an idea or a subject. Besides the obvious benefits like building confidence and public speaking skills, it builds the ability to handle and give out criticism effectively. No matter what you make or design you’ve definitely been placed in a situation where you’ve been criticized. Your game didn’t feel fun. It was too buggy. The art was off. Handling this without it feeling like an attack is a critical life skill. This applies to giving criticisms too.

Showing your work gives you the opportunity to see the picture with a fresh pair of eyes. A pair that isn’t yours. Which is very important if anyone besides you is going to interact with your creation. Often times we get so stuck looking at our own work that we miss the bigger picture. Showing it to someone for the first time or after you’ve made some progress can give you remarkable insights on things you’ve completely missed. Some of the best designers I know constantly ask me for feedback. Not because I’m a fantastic designer (which I obviously am, duh), but because they want opinions all the time. Opinions from other designers, from potential users, heck — even your child or younger sibling can offer a unique point of view.

This is why most students are required to defend their thesis before they graduate. Real life involves your ideas being tested and your intellect growing through this feedback loop of showing and being criticized, then improving. .

Get yourself into this habit. Create this feedback loop for yourself in your daily projects. Have a small circle that you share with. Grow it as your project grows. Companies wouldn’t have hired numerous testers if that feedback wasn’t so important.

Get out of your box! Go get feedback!