How you know
You know what the next version needs, and the only reason nobody's seen this one is how it would look.
Something to say
“This isn't finished and I want to show you anyway. Here's the part I actually need you to look at.”
It's easier to spot this afterwards than at the time. Give it a week before you decide it isn't yours.
Two ways in
One is a habit. The other is one person.
Neither is the better one. Pick whichever matches the thing that is actually bothering you.
On your own
The habit, not the incident.
Showing something rough isn't the same as doing rough work. The polish you add before anybody's looked is the polish most likely to be wasted.
- Show it while you'd still be happy to change it. Say which bits are rough, then show it anyway.
- Decide before you show it what you want back — a decision, a direction, or somebody saying it looks about right — and ask for only that.
- Set a point where it goes out regardless. Not a deadline for finishing it. A deadline for showing it.
With somebody in mind
The same friction, one person.
Whoever's waiting on this isn't waiting to judge it. They're waiting to find out whether they can stop guessing.
- Pick the one person whose reaction you can take, and show them first. One person is a conversation. Four is a review.
- Tell them what you need from them before you open it. Otherwise they'll be helpful about the wrong part, politely, at length.
One of these, not all of them. And in your own words, because ours won't sound like you.
Where this sharpens
It lands hardest with two of the five.
Not because anybody is difficult. These are just the two who reach for something different first, at the same moment.
Which one is yours
You are reading The Designer. Is that actually you?
Ten situations, about three minutes, no sign-up. It tells you which of the five you reach for first — and which version of this page is yours.
Five readings
This plays differently depending on what you reach for first.
Pick the one that sounds most like you. Reading a dimension is not a claim that you are one.