Shut up and listen!

So on the subject of iteration...

Listening to criticism from my peers is extremely important. It is our jobs as designers to meet the expectations of the player - and every comment a co-worker might give me can be extrapolated to be hundreds of paying players or game journalists. I love getting praise as much as anyone, but when I hear that something doesn't feel right - I pay attention. Here are some tricks I use when taking criticism:

• Write it down
  • I want to keep the feedback channel open as much as possible. When co-workers see that I'm serious about taking notes of everything they say, they're encouraged to come back later. The last thing I want is to ship a game where everyone hated an attack or mechanic, but never talked to me about it. Also, I forget things very quickly :)
• Identify the real issue
  
  • Sometimes the issue is obvious - like when someone complains that they want to see how much health they have before going into a combat scenario, but the health UI only shows up after combat is initiated. Other times it is buried under many layers - like when someone suggests to make sprinting be automatic after a few seconds of running. When asked why, the answer might be to move the throw button to the right trigger. When asked even further, it may come out that this person wants to add a toggle health UI button to the directional buttons and is just suggesting how to change the control scheme to accommodate. Smart people have a tendency to realize the problems their suggestions might create, and instead suggest solutions to those problems. See my post on "What is the problem you are trying to solve" for more.
• Take the time to explain
  • A lot of the time, I don't have a decent answer or plan for the criticism. But that's ok! I've found that explaining the constraints of a problem turns the sourest critic into a powerful ally. It's truly awesome to have that same person come in a few days later with a great solution to the issue. Also, that's the true fulfillment of anyone giving criticism - seeing positive change, and knowing that they helped bring it.