Design Critiques (Crits)
What is a Design Crit(ique)?
- It is a critique or review of a design that will support teh designer with helpfuul feedback at an early stage
- It is highly organised to ensure that it delivers useful insights and does not descend into a moan-fest
- They are there to make things better :-)
What are the benefits
- a second (etc) opinion
- or an outsider’s view
- de-risk your design
- to mitigate bias
- to stress-test your design
- test ideas
- to share your work and they make people feel more confident that things are going in the right direction
Roles
- Person who wants something critiqued. Lets call them the “Design Owner”
- Note Taker
- Reviewers. Lets call them “Criters”
Design Owner
Have a quick look at the GDS style Powerpoint on Design Crits V2
1. Set the context
- who are the users?
- what do they need?
- what stage is the project at?
- what are our current assumptions?
2. Say what kind of feedback you want
- graphic design
- interaction design
- service design
- content design
3. Let the team review the work
- don’t give a demo
- don’t talk too much
- don’t get defensive
- do take notes
- do listen
Prepare the following info to take to the Crit
- What have you brought for critique?
- What stage is it at?
- How did you get to this point?
- What kind of feedback do you want?
- Who are the users?
- What are the user needs?
- What is the policy intent?
- What assumptions or constraints are you working with?
- A map/summary of these activities and diagrams such as this SEP Assessment Prep Page
- Fill in a Crit Canvas and bring it with you
Criters
A. Listen to the context
- ask questions if you need to
B. Give the right kind of feedback
- avoid personal opinions
- avoid absolute statements
- ask open questions
- be kind
- explore ideas and suggest alternatives
Look at the: GDS Feedback rules posters
Facilitators
Templates
- Crit Canvas
- Get Criters to use Feedback Templates: Crit Feedback
Resources
Links
- GDS style Powerpoint on Design Crits V2
- GDS Design Notes Blog Entry
- Scott Berkun on running a design crit
- Scott Berkun - Youtube Video - Feedback without frustration
- Medium article on Design Crit
- GDS Roadshow Glasgow - Not really relevant but it has a picture of me :-)
- ux studio article
- invision article
- totalp article
- uxdesign article
- UX for the mases :-)
- trydesignlab article
- NNG
- Medium article 2
Criticism vs Critique
- Criticism passes judgement — Critique poses questions
- Criticism finds fault — Critique uncovers opportunity
- Criticism is personal — Critique is objective
- Criticism is vague — Critique is concrete
- Criticism tears down — Critique builds up
- Criticism is ego-centric — Critique is altruistic
- Criticism is adversarial — Critique is cooperative
- Criticism belittles the designer — Critique improves the design