The Lies We Designers Tell Ourselves

What we say: “I’ll sit down first thing Saturday morning with a fresh mind and bright eyes.”

What we mean: “Sweetie, it’s already 5 PM on Thursday. I’m tired and burnt out, and so are you. Let’s just not admit it.”
What really happens: First‑thing‑Saturday‑morning never comes.

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What we say: “I like the direction you’re going, but I think it could use more exploration…”
What we mean: “I actually don’t like your direction.”
What really happens: We never tell designers outright that their path is wrong or why. As a result, they assume they’re always right and miss the chance to learn from negative feedback.

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What we say: “This is just a high‑level overview of what we’ve covered in the past two weeks; it’s still in progress.”
What we mean: “We weren’t brave enough to make decisions or present them clearly. Although we had two weeks, we didn’t finish anything solid—so here’s a vague deck to protect our relationship.”
What really happens: Two weeks was never enough time.

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What we say: “We ran some informal in‑house user tests and discovered participants struggled to recognize on‑screen content.”
What we mean: “I showed my design to the guy next to me and he didn’t like it.”
What really happens: There was actually no testing at all.

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What we say: “I hear you—let’s dig into your suggestions more to improve the design.”
What we mean: “I’m sorry, but I didn’t like your idea. I’ll pretend to consider it then find excuses why it won’t work.”
What really happens: Not a single pixel moves.

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Honestly, indirect feedback feels more comfortable in the short term and avoids confrontation, but it hurts us in the long run. Design is like playing on a sports team—it demands trust and honesty. Constructive criticism challenges you to grow and helps the whole team overcome problems.

Speak less indirectly. Be more mature. Please.