How do you handle rejection in UX?

Everyone makes mistakes, but honest feedback can be a rarity and challenging to embrace, especially when it's negative. Managing your emotions during failure is crucial. I've found that by focusing on the constructive aspect of rejection and expressing gratitude to those offering feedback, it becomes easier to control those negative emotions. Bias can often color our perceptions, making it essential to retrace our steps when facing rejection. It's an opportunity to recognize our biases and commit to addressing them in future endeavors. Failure is our most profound teacher. Embrace it, learn, and grow from each lesson.

Rejection in UX is common. Because, you are working with multi-functional team of people. Everyone has their own perception. First thing which you should not do is "Don't take it personally". Instead you can seek their feedback very politely. Try to identify the specific area where you made mistake or they are rejecting your idea. If you found you made mistake, appreciate them that they have brought this before release. It's a very good thing right? But if you didn't find any mistake or issues with your design and design process, seek their feedback or support. Try to analyze the feedback. Try to identify the route cause. They may be wrong too. If you are not agreed with them, suggest them to validate the idea with real users.

Handling rejection in UX can be challenging but is an essential part of the design process. When faced with rejection, I approach it as an opportunity for growth and improvement. First, I remind myself that rejection is not a personal failure, but rather a chance to learn from user feedback and refine my designs. I also maintain a growth mindset, understanding that setbacks are part of the iterative design process. I revisit my design goals, analyze the reasons for rejection, and iterate on my designs accordingly. Ultimately, embracing rejection in UX helps me evolve as a designer and leads to more user-centric and successful outcomes in the long run.

Being rejected from an interview process is one of the less awesome things about professional work for sure. But having been on the other side, trust me, if you are qualified for 80% of the job responsibilities, its more about the company than it is you. If you work in the UX/CX space, I believe you should always have your mindspace in trying to find "Not Wrong" answers. And therefore anytime you discover a "Wrong" answers (through user research, through operational constraints, etc.) that is not a bad thing. If you are finding the "Wrong" answers too often on your first pass, increase the amount of research or constraint/concern gathering from your Product folks or stakeholders before solutioning.

Rejection is part of the UX design process. Validate Your Feelings: It's normal to feel bummed! Rejection can trigger a range of emotions from disappointment and frustration to anger and self-doubt. Don't try to bottle them up. Instead, acknowledge how you're feeling. Process, Don't Suppress: Give yourself time to process these emotions. Talk to a trusted friend or colleague, write in a journal, or do some self-care activities like exercise or spending time in nature. Separate Rejection from Self-Worth: Remember, rejection of a design doesn't reflect your value as a UX designer. It's about finding the best fit for the project.

Handling rejection in UX can be challenging, but it's an opportunity to learn and grow! 🌱💪 Embrace feedback, analyze it objectively, adapt your approach, and keep striving for improvement. 🛠️💡 #UX #GrowthMindset

Handling rejection is tough, but when people are rejecting the entire practice of UX or are rejecting the design process-that's tough. It's also an opportunity! First handle rejection on an emotional level, get back on your feet and ready to climb. that. hill. This is your opportunity to show resilience, strength, and what UX designers are made of! This is a form of feedback, just like any design that you produce - experiment. Try something new and see if it works. While it hurts at first, at the end of the day it's just feedback. What is difficult today, will become a teaching moment for tomorrow, and a memory in a year from now. Take a breath and go get em!

Rejection of design is essential to the iterative process. It's through the friction of design rejection that you'll be able to understand others’ concerns, thoughts, and logic, allowing you to revisit your design with a deeper awareness, understanding, and effectiveness. On the other hand, some times design rejection is unwarranted, and at those times it's important to stand up for what you believe to be correct, and be able to push back and articulate your perspective. In both cases, I find that effective communication – that is deep listening, active thinking, and freedom of speech – is immensely important in achieving greater levels of clarity and growth.

1. Don't take it personally: Remember that rejection of your design ideas or proposals doesn't reflect on your worth as a person or as a professional. It's about the specific solution or approach being discussed, not you. 2. Focus on the user: Keep the user at the center of your design process. Remember that feedback and rejection are ultimately about creating the best possible experience for the end user. 3. Maintain confidence: While it's important to be open to feedback and willing to iterate, it's also crucial to maintain confidence in your skills and expertise as a UX designer. There's a deep ability in you to create meaningful and impactful designs. 4. Stay resilient: Rejection is a natural part of the design process.

There is no such thing as "rejection" in UX - there is "stuff that didn't work" and "stuff that now works better based on improvements to the stuff that didn't work before". Anyway, the only "rejection" that counts in UX is ultimately the rejection of users. Sure, stakeholders could "reject" something, but in the end it is the users who will prove whether an approach, hypothesis or design is "correct".

You can always ask the reason why they felt it to reject. Seeking feedback will help you highlight important areas and help in improving it overtime. Instead of polishing already skilled areas you can pay attention to areas where you lack.

A good hiring manager will collate notes on each candidate. Depending on the interview volume, it can be time consuming to write these up and give detailed feedback to everyone. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask for it if you value their input. Phrased well, this request can show initiative, curiosity and motivation to succeed, on top of gaining useful insight. These are qualities desired in any UX and Product role.

In today’s tough job market, remember that your resume likely isn’t even getting to a real person, so many of those “rejections” are automated and AI-driven. What’s been most helpful to me was when I could learn from the interviewer what skills they thought I was missing, such as not enough visual design or coding experience. In cases where a skill is normally outside of your job description, this can be hard to take, but remember every skill you learn makes you a more well-rounded UX generalist and more valuable to employers. You’ll be immersed in learning new skills that will open new doors. Showing that you continue to grow even during an unexpected career break showcases your perseverance and flexibility in the face of adversity.

The operative word here is ‘constructive’, and this is the essence of good UX design… helping to construct better experiences, and improved outcomes.

Feedback and iterating is the name of the UX game! Open yourself up and try really hard to keep things objective & to not take anything personally. It’s going to sting a little in the beginning, especially because putting so much time and energy into your work is naturally going to make you feel defensive, but know that designs should never quite feel “finished”. I’ve adopted the “I feel good about this design, interview, portfolio project, etc. for now” mentality and it’s been a game changer in how I react. Adopt the mindset that nothing in UX is ever going to be “done”. There will always be areas in your skills, designs, and portfolio that could use improvement — as the world and its users continue to evolve, so will your designs.

Absolutely. Ask for feedback. Be curious. Put your research skills to use and ask questions. Think about the bigger picture too. Businesses rely on several factors to make decisions. UX research is one of them. Broaden your horizons and find out what influenced the decision. Were there technical limitations? Budget cuts? Sometimes, they might not give you a reason or the feedback might feel flimsy. Learn to be okay with that too. Sometimes, companies want to go in a different direction and it's nothing you did "wrong". They want to try a different idea or approach. Work is not personal. It took me a while to understand this. Feedback is about my work, not about who I am. The sooner you get this, the better off you'll be.

Rejection is a hard but essential lesson to learn throughout your UX career. It's what informs you to make changes and keeps you on the path of growth. Inheritantly, you will be bias towards your own solution, it's your baby! But you need to take a step back and remember who you are designing for. With that in mind, welcoming feedback is an opportunity for a conversation. Which can both, better align you with your user persona's and result in a solution which better suits your user base.

Review feedback objectively, seeking areas for enhancement. Discuss with colleagues for fresh perspectives. Don't take it personally; it's about the design, not you. Maintain a growth mindset, understanding that each rejection can lead to a more refined solution. Stay persistent, as even renowned designers faced setbacks.

Feedback is the best way to improve a user experience. Because UX is done through an iterative process, it's actually suggested that the first pass is technically "wrong." It takes research and tinkering to eventually end up at a point where your designs are presentable. Then, it's time to get feedback again, then repeat the process. Never stop getting feedback on how something can improve.

A perspective I advocate for within my teams is that there is no such thing as failure, only a new opportunity to learn. I’ve found that it’s much easier for people to articulate their expectations in the context of how they were not met. When seeking feedback about an artefact (flows, journey map, design, prototype, etc), one of the most powerful questions that helps me understand feedback better is to ask “what would you do differently” or “what would you change”. This removes subjectivity and provides an anchor for their perspective to help you understand where and why their expectations was not met and an indication of how big that perceived gap actually is, making your next action much clearer.

A quote from one of my t-shirts, "I have learned so much from my mistakes that I'm thinking of making a few more!" has guided me in times of failure. Mistakes offer a valuable space for self-reflection and improvement. They present an opportunity to understand "what went wrong?" and "why?", laying a robust foundation for learning by showcasing what to avoid. For anyone facing rejection, my advice is not to lose hope. Instead, view failure as a hidden opportunity to evolve and enhance both your personal and professional self. Embrace it, learn from it, and let it be a stepping stone to a stronger, more resilient you.

Failure is inevitable specially in interviews, considering the range of emotions you feel during that time. You can go from excited to nervous in a matter of minutes and both emotions can cause you to forget and make mistakes. It’s understandable, we’re only human. Interviewers understand also but it’s a tough process. Little things can determine who does the company go with. Practice makes perfect. Speaking from experience, with every interview the mistakes I made I learned and grew. That in turn helped me get even better opportunities than I would have missed out on had I succeeded in the first go. Mistakes can be big blessings.

I like to look at rejection as redirection. Learn what went well, what didn't, and create an action plan from there. Rejection shouldn't automatically have a negative connotation. It is an opportunity to pivot your approach and view the challenge at a different angle. Reframing rejection as an opportunity rather than an 'end all be all' will help broaden your perspective and push you to grow and strengthen your skills and mindset.

You always learn from mistakes and not from perfection. It is the failures who teach us and not victories. Learning from mistakes is a skill needed to survive in long run for a designer. Improving and applying leads to overall perfection.

Remember, handling criticism effectively is a valuable skill that evolves with experience and is an integral part of the UX process. Embrace it as a chance to improve and grow your UX design journey.

In this case, the good, old "Know thyself" is essential. Everyone commits errors, not many acknowledge them. Errors are great teachers, they are warning signs that help us get back on track. Also, mistakes are about accountability and responsibility, not guilt. Therefore, we need to be critical, but also analytical and meticulous in pinpointing the causes and how we can avoid them in the future.

Learning from mistakes is simply the only way to grow, we often retain more through failure versus success. Through trial & error, we start to discover our own shortcomings and understand our weaknesses and this process of identifying those helps us understand where we can grow and refine our skill set. There is no successful person or professional in this entire world that hasn’t met some ounce of failure, persistence, consistency and discipline will carry you on your path toward success. This is something I know all too well as I’ve started three separate businesses and all have either dissolved or became too stagnant to continue operating. Failure builds character.

Having mental toughness is challenging when you’re not feeling good about a design that wasn’t well received or if you didn’t get the job you hoped you’d get. Sometimes it’s good to remember a few things: ❇️ Focus on what you do well. One bad day or a bad meeting doesn’t mean you aren’t good at what you do. You probably did something really well. ❇️ Reflect on what you’ve already accomplished. You’ve no doubt worked really hard to get this far, you can do it again. ❇️ Remember the road to success is paved with failures along the way. Those who don’t fail, didn’t try. ❇️ Treat yourself to your favorite book, show, or time with friends and family. Connection with others helps you remember that you’re more than this specific situation.

Celebrating your achievements is key to keeping you inspired on your journey as a UX professional. Things get tough, clients are difficult, and work can seem meaningless. Reflect on your wins (no matter how small) regularly and keep your head up!

Remember UX work is iterative and incremental. Slice the work into smaller pieces and set reasonable deadlines to complete them, and regularly celebrate completions. By doing so, I relief my mental stress, remind myself that this is not only for me, but also for recognizing and appreciating the supports from my manager and coworkers.

Rejection after rejection during this process that take you down a rabbit hole that’s difficult to get out of. Seek the support of your tribe, whether it’s mentors, friends or family. Sometimes you can’t see what’s right in front of you and that’s the time your tribe can help. Seeing things from an objective lens and not a personal one will help get you out of that funk faster. This eventually will boost your confidence as you start seeing better results and getting closer to your dream job.

I always like to think about writers or any creatives who were rejected multiple times before someone gave them a chance. I also wonder why so many people rejected their masterpieces. Probably, they were rushing. They made assumptions: "It's not what the public wants". I've been rejected dozens of times in several scenarios. For a while, I let it chip away at my self-esteem. "I must suck", I thought. It takes courage and vulnerability to put yourself out there constantly. I now know my worth. Some don't see it, and that's okay. That's on them. We can't force people to see what they don't wish to see. But, I do know what my talents, abilities, and skills are. Rejection is not about YOU. Your foot doesn't fit that one shoe. That's it.

Work together on resolving the issues brought up during the rejection phase. Participate in discussions with team members to gain insights into varying perspectives.

I agree! A moment of rejection can serve as an impetus for new directions of inspiration. Actually look for references in books, talk to AIs, always reviewing the answers to gain insights into how to achieve new future victories. Following other Designers is good, but avoid just doing this to avoid reducing your results to the effects of herds in the UX market.

Something that I always encourage UX candidates to do is have the stories they want to tell nailed down. For example, if you don't have years of experience in UX but you do have a couple of examples of you really knocking it out of the park, focus on those stories in your interview prep. Specifically: - What qualities do I want to show off with these stories? - How did my contributions in this story make a difference in product or influence designs in a way that improved the user experience? - What did I learn from this experience?

Remain receptive to experimenting with various approaches to discover the most efficient solution. If a design faces rejection, explore alternative solutions that could better align with the project requirements.

Yes! My approach is definitely to use rejection as fuel. It helps to clearly understand if it is the research idea that was rejected, the research insights or was it your recommendations. And in my experience, the friction usually comes from factors totally unrelated to the work you produce such as internal politics, conflicting priorities, budget, management decisions etc. Understand the real reasons and move on, your time and talent are precious! As the famous quote goes - “A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” #keepgoing

Handling rejection in UX can be a transformative experience if you approach it with the right mindset. I've come to see rejection not as a negative outcome but as an invaluable opportunity to learn and grow. Rejection can offer a treasure trove of information. Analyzing the demographics of the users can shed light on where it fell short. Did it not align with their needs or preferences? Did it overlook a crucial aspect of their experience? These questions lead to refined user personas and more targeted designs.

Rejection is an integral part of our iterative process. It must serve not as a barrier but as a motivator to refine and excel continuously. Adopting a mindset of resilience, I see each project as a journey—filled with ups and downs, successes, and setbacks—all contributing to a broader narrative of growth and learning. By setting incremental goals and recognizing every milestone, I aim to inspire my team to remain committed to their path, evoking a shared belief that through persistence, passion, and the relentless pursuit of improvement, we can turn any challenge into a newfound opportunity.

When a design is rejected, try not take it personally. It doesn’t have to mean you’re a “bad designer”. It just means the solution you provide is not what works. And that’s okay. Take the feedback, go back to the drawing board and provide one that works.

It should be noted that "rejection" is not always as it seems. The undertone of the very word hints at something that impacts us on a personal level. When a design or recommendation is not embraced, it's critical to view the feedback received as something to be evaluated and digested instead of as "rejection." This way, we'll be less likely to take it personally and reduce the chances that we'd respond improperly to said feedback AND miss the opportunity for growth that the feedback presents.

When I was in design school, the feedback was brutal and honest. And sometimes it felt personal. They prepared us for the real world. I learned that people typically come with feedback from one of a few perspectives. 1. They have appropriate domain knowledge and expertise and genuinely believe that the design will not serve their purpose. 2. They feel they were not given adequate opportunity for input or their input was ignored. 3. They're misinformed or do not believe in you or the project. It's rare that they "just don't like the design". The best way to handle rejection is to be able to defend your choices. All of them. Why that color? It makes you the expert, preparation is confidence, and it starts a conversation.

Focusing on design being rejected comes from a personal perspective, which ideally should not exist in design. When designing, we are trying to solve a problem for a user group. It is objective, and not creative. Either it works or it doesn’t, and it can always be tested. There is no space to take it personally when one is focused on the outcome i.e. user-centered design. If you think about it, design can aid one’s personal growth towards becoming less ego-centric or more unselfish.

Data-driven decision-making is the heart of modern UX. When a design is rejected, I embrace it as an opportunity to gather more data. Metrics, user feedback, and A/B testing can help pinpoint specific pain points. This quantitative approach not only strengthens your future designs but also demonstrates a commitment to evidence-based decision-making. In the fast-paced world of digital solutions, rejection is almost a rite of passage. It keeps us on our toes, challenges our assumptions, and ultimately leads to better products. Rejection isn't a setback but a stepping stone to innovation. Embrace it, learn from it, and use it to fuel your journey toward creating exceptional user experiences.

Consider why the rejection happened. What work of yours were you showing and who were you showing it to? Has that person seen this iteration of your work before? Are they the product owner? You can avoid a lot of rejection by taking product owners along the design process with you. Bring them in at the beginning of the process, listen to what their vision is for the product, ask questions and take notes. Schedule a few short meetings throughout the project to update them on progress and hear their thoughts. This builds trust and rapport with the people outside your team, and it will make your job easier. Articulating Design Decisions by Tom Greever is an awesome read about this topic.

I have come to appreciate all kinds of feedback, particularly the negative ones — trust me, I do often struggle with them and occasionally question my skills. However, with time, I've realized that these critiques, like no other, offer a unique opportunity to uncover deep-seated issues. As a passionate user experience designer, my lifelong dream is to be recognized for creating in-depth products that truly serve my users, rather than complete yet shallow ones. Years after years, rejections and negative feedbacks proved themselves to be the sole ways that propel me towards growth, and I'm grateful that people who rejected my work did so because they cared enough to notice my products’ flaws.

A win-win approach for the greater good and evidence-based research with real users are what will prevent rejection and conflict