Critique and The Design Process: Facilitating Better Feedback

Conversations about the quality and effectiveness of your design work can be challenging. In this presentation, Aaron Irizarry, author of Discussing Design, examines the language, rules, and strategies for critique. You’ll learn takeaways to immediately put to work for creating a useful, collaborative environment for discussing design.

An understanding of where critique fits within the design process and how to incorporate it into projects.
Methods for gathering useful feedback from clients and teammates.
Filtering solid critiques from personal opinion.
Critique and remote teams, how to make it work.
Challenges to critique and the path to better conversations.

Transcript

1. DISCUSSINGDESIGN IMPROVING TEAM COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION THROUGH CRITIQUE
2. Conversations can hurt.
4. It’s laid out too much like [popular service]. We should be different. The new Spotify design is perhaps even worse than the old Spotify design. The visual hierarchy and underlying IA are terrible. No. That won’t work. What if we do it this way... It needs more flululululuh!! The wireframes are still not answering our problem and are not providing enough an easier solution for the page. Change the order of the screens so that the 3rd and first one are switched. It doesn't have enough spunk. What kind of company shuts down a much-loved service like Google Reader but keeps the vegetative Google Plus? We're disappointed in this solution. We're going to have our own designers come up with one. Looks ugly. Make it pretty. What. The hell. Is this? I would never use this. I don’t like the layout. We should make that a dropdown instead of radio buttons. None of this is what I asked for. This is terrible. I have no idea what the lines mean. I like the paper form better. I'm just not feeling it. I don't know what, but it isn't right yet. Just needs to be more innovative. Make it look more like SharePoint. Here is a rewrite. My intention is to sharpen the language, make it more precise.
5. The new Spotify design is perhaps even worse than the old Spotify design. The visual hierarchy and underlying IA are terrible. No. That won’t work. What if we do it this way... Change the order of the screens so that the 3rd and first one are switched. What. The hell. Is this? We should make that a dropdown instead of radio buttons. None of this is what I asked for. Here is a rewrite. My intention is to sharpen the language, make it more precise.
6. feedback
8. Reaction
9. “ Good lord! That’s awful! An inebriated cocker spaniel could have done better! Reaction
10. “ Good lord! That’s awful! An inebriated cocker spaniel could have done better! Reaction Direction
11. “ Good lord! That’s awful! An inebriated cocker spaniel could have done better! “ You should have made all of those radio buttons a drop down [,because…] Reaction Direction
12. criticalthinking
13. critique
14. “ Good lord! That’s awful! An inebriated cocker spaniel could have done better! “ You should have made all of those radio buttons a drop down [,because…] Reaction Direction
15. Critique “ Good lord! That’s awful! An inebriated cocker spaniel could have done better! “ You should have made all of those radio buttons a drop down [,because…] Reaction Direction
16. “ If the objective is for users to seriously consider the impact to their bank balance before making a purchase, placing the balance at the bottom of the screen at the same size as all the other numbers isn’t effective because it get’s lost in all of the other the information. Critique “ Good lord! That’s awful! An inebriated cocker spaniel could have done better! “ You should have made all of those radio buttons a drop down [,because…] Reaction Direction
17. At their foundation is intent. There are two facets to critique, giving and receiving…
18. Giving critique with the wrong intent is self focused.
19. Giving critique with the right intent is objective focused.
20. When giving critique... Use a filter. Gather initial thoughts and reactions. Revisit them in the right context.
21. When giving critique... Don’t assume. Find out the reason behind thinking, constraints, or other variables.
22. When giving critique... Don’t invite yourself. Get in touch and ask to chat about the design.
23. When giving critique... Lead with questions. Show an interest in their process and learn more about their objectives.
24. When giving critique... Talk about strengths. Critique isn’t just about the things that aren’t working.
25. Receiving critique with the right intent takes humility & restraint.
26. Receiving critique with the right intent takes humility & restraint.
27. When receiving critique... Remember the purpose. Critique is about understanding and improvement, not judgement.
28. When receiving critique... Think before responding. Do you understand what the critics are saying?
29. When receiving critique... Participate. Analyze your proposed solution alongside everyone else.
30. When receiving critique... Set the foundation. Use prior agreements and objectives to get everyone on the same page.
31. Creative Direction vs Critique
32. Critique is a form of feedback meant to provide guidance by identifying concerns and insights about the work being presented. It is up to the designer(s) to take the insights and make decisions about progressing the design. Direction is a more “direct” form of feedback that identifies specific things that need to be changed in a design. This feedback is less open to designer interpretation.
33. We need tools, and a plan.
35. What are the objectives for the design?
36. What are the objectives for the design?
37. What are the objectives for the design? What are the related design elements?
38. What are the objectives for the design? What are the related design elements?
39. What are the objectives for the design? What are the related design elements? Are they effective at achieving the objectives?
40. What are the objectives for the design? What are the related design elements? Are they effective at achieving the objectives?
41. Why are or aren’t they effective? What are the objectives for the design? What are the related design elements? Are they effective at achieving the objectives?
42. Synthesize Observations Create or Refine Observe & Evaluate
43. Synthesize Observations Create or Refine Observe & Evaluate
49. Too Soon
50. Too Soon
51. Too Soon Too Late*
52. Too Soon Too Late* Just Right
53. Critique is a skill. You need to practice. Keep in mind…
54. Critique is a skill. You need to practice. Start small. Keep in mind…
55. Critique is a skill. You need to practice. Think before you speak. Start small. Keep in mind…
56. Critique is a skill. You need to practice. Choose who you critique with carefully. Think before you speak. Start small. Keep in mind…
57. Rules of critique Avoid problem solving.
58. Rules of critique Avoid problem solving. Everyone is equal.
59. Rules of critique Avoid problem solving. Everyone is equal. Everyone is a critic.
60. Rules of critique Avoid problem solving. Everyone is equal. Everyone is a critic. The designer is responsible for next steps.
61. Set the right foundation.
62. Set your foundation with… Personas User archetypes that describe their average behaviors, goals, expectations, knowledge, etc.
63. Set your foundation with… Goals Desired, measurable outcomes of the user interacting with the product or service. Can be user oriented, business oriented or both.
64. Set your foundation with… Principles Statements, often worded as rules, that capture the desired qualities or characteristics of the final solution.
65. Set your foundation with… Scenarios Short narratives that the describe the desired behaviors, thoughts, emotions, etc. of the user as they move through a use case.
66. Critique is about iteration and improvement. So long as you’re looking to improve on whatever it is you’re doing, you’ve got an opportunity for critique.
67. Who should we invite?
68. Start things off on the right foot.
69. Facilitating critique Critique Goals
70. Facilitating critique Critique Goals Active Listening
71. Facilitating critique Critique Goals Round Robin & Quotas Active Listening
72. Facilitating critique Critique Goals Round Robin & Quotas Direct Inquiry Active Listening
73. Facilitating critique Critique Goals Round Robin & Quotas Direct Inquiry Six Thinking Hats Active Listening
74. Facilitating critique Critique Goals Round Robin & Quotas Direct Inquiry Six Thinking Hats Facilitators Active Listening
75. Yes, you will have to deal with difficult people.
76. Brainstorms?
77. Following up.
78. Critique and remote teams
79. Tips for critiquing with remote teams
80. Tips for critiquing with remote teams Sight, sound, patience.
81. Tips for critiquing with remote teams Sight, sound, patience. Be open to use whatever tools work.
82. Tips for critiquing with remote teams Sight, sound, patience. Be open to use whatever tools work. Be ready to ask a lot of questions, especially after you get an answer.
83. Tips for critiquing with remote teams Sight, sound, patience. Be open to use whatever tools work. Be ready to ask a lot of questions, especially after you get an answer. Be prepared, really prepared.
84. Tools for critiquing with remote teams Zoom GoTo Meeting Slack Google Hangouts iPevo camera
85. Challenges to critique, & the path to better conversations
86. Aaron Irizarry Head of Experience Infrastructure Capital One @aaroni oreilly.com Use code “AUTH5” to get 50% off. Amazon.com