I work in a start-up - and the founder keeps wanting to see design progress day by day and I feel like am rushed and not given time develop design concepts to their potential. And because of that, I am forced to show them where am at, and then they start nitpicking every little thing in the screens designed even though I myself haven't fully finalised them
And based on the comments I change directions and then they would be like oh sorry now I see what you meant then (continued in comments)

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Ive seen this before in early stage. Founders are over invested in their baby and want to be really involved.

It's super helpful designing to have someone look something over and pick out small things you may have missed, but micromanagement like that is not healthy or necessary.

I would try to suggest your own meeting cadence of 2-3x a week at first. Also, have them review your designs in lofi first and agree on flow before you drop hours into a hifi that has to be changed

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My suggestions...

1) User testing. Start a cadence of user testing with customers. If he pushes you, you can say, "we're still testing that design." You can also use it to test any suggestions of his you think are bad ideas (record the session and play it back to him).

2) Schedule a 1-2x a week "Design Review" with him and the other stakeholders. If he asks for an update between review meetings, tell him it is still being worked on and you will discuss in the review.

3) Drop the fidelity of the designs you show him. People tend to focus on the small stuff (i.e. I don't like how that tab looks) and miss the important things like UX and information architecture when you show high fidelity designs.

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+1 to this

I’ve been here. Take the time to educate them on the design process and ask for what you need to be successful. Ask for what you need and really lead the next meeting: for example suggest once a week and prep a quick deck with the problem to solve, what you’re looking for feedback on etc and really guide the conversation. Approach this like this person is not trying to make you miserable (they probably truly aren’t they just care a lot and want to help) and be direct about how to create the best work. Work to frame what you need about the work and not about you if that makes sense as it helps make you seem professional and logical.

likehelpful

Tell him to cut that 💩, if he doesn’t …just jump ship, else you’re headed for a burnout.

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I would agree. Try to set a friendly boundary of checking twice a week. But also, if they are nitpicking remind them the user is the ultimate stakeholder to please and stress a need for user testing.

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they would be like oh sorry now I see what you meant then , bring back you how you did it first.... am so frustrated. What do you reckon I do??

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That is part of being a designer.

The truth is that everyone THINKS they can design. And, as a result, much of your time as a designer is convincing them that - as the designer - you know what you are talking about. The best way to do that is through user testing, competitive analysis, and using standards or pattern libraries.

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Suggesting weekly demos (sometime around the end of the week) with stakeholders might be one way to go about it. Are you part of a design team that could back that idea and help pitch it to the founders? I agree that micromanagement just doesn’t change overnight but it might be worth hinting at a change in dynamic, not necessarily via criticism but by suggesting an alternative everyone can get behind. If the response to that isn’t looking too positive, you might want to start looking elsewhere for the sake of your own mental health really.

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First and foremost: Communicate your process. Walk them through your past projects and how certain design steps helped you and your team to succeed. Then come back to the problem you and your current team is solving, get more information around it via data analysis, user research, customer insights, plan a design process around it and communicate what you want to acheive by solving the problem, what are your hinges are and propose a timeline with updates for your CEO. This design showcase is party taking feedback and partly showing them what you and your team wants to do based on the data that you have gathered. Move and rock this!

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Sounds like you’re working for someone who does NOT understand design and also doesn’t understand basic common principles of what defines a good leader. To be honest? People like that who are micromanaging at that level can’t be changed. Start looking and get out now while the market is still hot for product designers. You’ll be scooped up in no time.

I think all of these suggestions are great but I agree with one of the other commenters that the founder is lacking some basic leadership skills that may be hard to change.

When making these suggestions to set up a regular design review, I would take the opportunity to explain why too. That it’s interrupting your process and affecting your work negatively. That you were hired as the design expert (assuming the founder is not a designer) and some trust a required for you to do your job effectively.

If an explanation like this isn’t taken well, it would be a big red flag

Sounds like you’re being micromanaged. That’s a cultural problem I cannot solve for you, unfortunately

Are you contract ?

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