Slide 1

Slide 1 text

Hi, my name is Peter. 2003 2012 My designer “career” started about ten years ago as a professional JAVA developer. I quickly moved from programming to design, from startup to a corporation, to an agency and finally to another startup - GoodData, where I work now.

Slide 2

Slide 2 text

I don’t like your design! I’ve been hearing this statement quite often. That’s because I lead UX design workshops, trying to educate web designers, product managers and fledgling UX designers to respect the human who will be using their software

Slide 3

Slide 3 text

I always tailor the contents of the workshop to the needs of the people that attend it. There’s one single theme, that I did not anticipate. Something I did not know was a part of the UX designer’s skill-set.

Slide 4

Slide 4 text

Critique It’s easy, isn’t it? Most people severely underestimate how important it is and how much a proper critique can improve their design skills. Most people also think critique is easy. But good, meaningful, productive critique is very hard to master. The Dunning-Kruger effect does not help either.

Slide 5

Slide 5 text

Raise your hands ... ‣ Who criticised someone else’s design? ‣ Who used: I don’t like it. Wow! That’s fantastic!

Slide 6

Slide 6 text

I don’t like it. Wow! That’s fantastic! This is not critique

Slide 7

Slide 7 text

You can agree or disagree with an opinion But that will not make it more useful to you as a designer.

Slide 8

Slide 8 text

What is critique? So what what is critique? Well, wikipedia will give you a definition. But the connection to design might not be immediately clear.

Slide 9

Slide 9 text

Critique is about a systematic and detailed analysis. Critique is about critical thinking. About not accepting the world as it is, challenging the status quo.

Slide 10

Slide 10 text

Argument Argument Argument Argument Argument Argument At the heart of critique is an argument. But not all arguments are created equal.

Slide 11

Slide 11 text

< Opinion Strong Critique > There are weaker arguments, based on inductive reasoning, consensus or analogies.

Slide 12

Slide 12 text

< Opinion Strong Critique > A strong critique in design is always based on research or results of usability testing. l always think more about arguments based on research, usability testing and user observation in general. I’m interested in good psychology and design research papers. E-mail:[email protected]

Slide 13

Slide 13 text

Receiving critique Ouch There are two sides in every critique. The giving and receiving end. Let’s start our exploration with your work being criticized. This part is more personal and definitely harder to handle.

Slide 14

Slide 14 text

It’s important, that a designer knows how to receive critique. Why? There might not be enough time to educate the critics on how to perform the critique properly.

Slide 15

Slide 15 text

Even other designers are not very trained in critique. And thanks to the Dunning-Kruger effect, they might not be aware of it.

Slide 16

Slide 16 text

Intent Let’s start with intent, the hidden motivation behind critique. Why have you asked for critique? Did you decide you want to hear it? Has it been forced upon you?

Slide 17

Slide 17 text

Do you need a hug? Then go to your mom. You should not invite critique when you just want a pat on your shoulder.

Slide 18

Slide 18 text

Did you just want to show off your supreme design skillz? Well, why not, but it won’t work as a critique session. Only call for critique if you want your design improved. This has to be your main motivation.

Slide 19

Slide 19 text

Information The critics need information to base their reasoning on. You should present as much information as needed for an effective critique to take place. But there’s constraints you should be aware of.

Slide 20

Slide 20 text

First you need to define the scope of the critique. Without it, people will pick what they want to shoot. Err ... criticize.

Slide 21

Slide 21 text

It’s good to share Personas, Scenarios and basically any other user research you’ve based your work on.

Slide 22

Slide 22 text

But you do not want the critics to follow you in your footsteps. Just show them where did you intend to go - what were your design goals and constraints? It’s a good idea to stop them (show your failed designs) if they’re headed in a wrong direction.

Slide 23

Slide 23 text

You need them to form their own opinion! It’s those aha moments, that provide the most valuable insights.

Slide 24

Slide 24 text

This means, try not to explain your design decisions! I know this sounds hard. And it is, but try it.

Slide 25

Slide 25 text

Emotional Attachment This is urge comes from your emotional attachment. You invested a lot of effort into the design. You have the right to be emotionally attached. It’s natural.

Slide 26

Slide 26 text

Your first reaction to critique will probably be defensive. It’s extremely tempting to rationalize your design decisions – to explain why you did the things the way you did. This is a mechanism to protect your mind from the cognitive dissonance. Look for it and counter this reaction with the conscious mind.

Slide 27

Slide 27 text

Back off and act as if you are not around when critique is given. Let the design fight for itself. Putting the design away for a month does wonders.

Slide 28

Slide 28 text

You won't be around when real people see and use the design.

Slide 29

Slide 29 text

Listen actively Understanding the critique starts with active listening. Just hearing what the critics have to say is not enough.

Slide 30

Slide 30 text

Think about it and if there is anything, you don’t understand, ask why. Your goal is not agree or disagree with the critics, but to understand where do their arguments come from.

Slide 31

Slide 31 text

And even if you understand everything perfectly now, you won’t remember much of it in a few days. Human memory is not a good tool to hold potentially dissonant information. According to research, you will continue to warp everything you remember so it conforms to your beliefs.

Slide 32

Slide 32 text

You need to write everything down. If you are not able to take notes during the session, ask someone to do it for you.

Slide 33

Slide 33 text

Giving Critique Need help? On the other side of the spear, things look differently. People think they help you, by expressing their opinion. But it looks differently on the other side, doesn’t it? Design critique needs to follow certain rules to be effective.

Slide 34

Slide 34 text

Intent, again And we’re at the intent. Again, because your motivation to critique is crucial. Everything else follows it. What is it you want? Help improve the design or your reputation on twitter?

Slide 35

Slide 35 text

Congratulations on your redesign! I love the site. When you get a chance, I would like to give you some feedback. Can I buy you a beer or send you an email? OMG! They redesigned their site, again. What a #ux #fail Imagine your reaction to these two statements. Which one would you likely respond to? On one side is a offer to help. On the other something entirely different.

Slide 36

Slide 36 text

So don’t be selfish. Wake the altruist in you. There is something for you too.

Slide 37

Slide 37 text

Your observation skills improve. And you will learn to better differentiate between the good design and bad design. And by doing it, your intuition will get better too.

Slide 38

Slide 38 text

Right moment The critique has to come at the right moment. Is the designer ready to reflect on the design? Is he prepared to what you have to say?

Slide 39

Slide 39 text

Throwing an email in the general direction of the designer usually does not help anyone. How would you personally respond to such a message? Critique without a discussion, does not make sense.

Slide 40

Slide 40 text

Don’t assume, know. When criticizing someone’s work, you should to know their design goals, constraints and target audience. Without it, you cannot objectively evaluate the quality of the design. Yet it happens to be done this way so often.

Slide 41

Slide 41 text

It is as if you were wandering around city on a foggy day, unable to see most of its beauty and flaws. When in doubt, ask. If you do not know what to ask to break that “I’dont like that” feeling down, we’ll come to that in a few moments.

Slide 42

Slide 42 text

Proposing solutions I’ve seen this so many times. The critics want to help by proposing a different solution. That’s not a bad thing per se, but don’t force it. Mention the idea and only explain more if the designer is interested.

Slide 43

Slide 43 text

Be sure that the solution you propose is aligned with the design goals, personas and everything else the designer told you. Handle it carefully. Or there might be unpleasant surprises :)

Slide 44

Slide 44 text

The Critique Session So the time is right and you would like to discuss your design with people.

Slide 45

Slide 45 text

? How many people should you aim for in a critique round? How many people did you have the best experience with?

Slide 46

Slide 46 text

I had the best experience with one on one type of session. Even if it is more time consuming to go through the design with multiple people this way. They are far easier to moderate than group sessions. Some people behave very differently when in a group.

Slide 47

Slide 47 text

If you have to do a group session, invite 4-6 people at most. And it’s a good idea to appoint a moderator, that will keep the discussion civil and on topic. Other helpful tools are - round robin (ask them in sequence) or directly ask questions.

Slide 48

Slide 48 text

What to ask? Sometimes it may happen, that you do not know, where to start. Or you just have a feeling you can’t really pinpoint. You can’t tell, what you like or dislike. These two emotions are just signals from your subconsciousness. This is your intuition speaking.

Slide 49

Slide 49 text

Who? ‣ Does the design solve a specific problem they have? ‣ Does it speak to the customer or just to the designer’s ego?

Slide 50

Slide 50 text

How? ‣ How can you simplify the concept? ‣ How does your solution meet a specific need of the Persona?

Slide 51

Slide 51 text

What? ‣ What is the main argument? ‣ Is it strong enough to satisfy the design goal?

Slide 52

Slide 52 text

Why? ‣ Why is the other person approaching the problem in this way? ‣ Use the 5 Whys to dig deeper. Why had the designer used this particular design element? But use it sparingly. Why questions might provoke the designer to defend himself and start rationalizing. Or the people really might not know why :)

Slide 53

Slide 53 text

from Seductive Interaction Design by Stephen Anderson If you want to critique visual design, then this chart from the book by Stephen Anderson might come handy.

Slide 54

Slide 54 text

To sum up ... ‣ Be humble ‣ Detach yourself emotionally ‣ Be specific ‣ Learn to listen Accept the critique without defending yourself. Get some distance between yourself and your design. Try to get to the point. And learn to listen and understand.

Slide 55

Slide 55 text

You can reach me at [email protected] | @vorkronor | delicious.com/vorkronor GoodCamping :) Source for all images - internet I mean it with the research papers. Thanks for sending me some :)