Discussing Design: Improving Communication and Collaboration through Critique

by Adam Connor

Choose who is best to include. Good insights can come from anywhere, not just the design team, so think about inviting a cross-functional group. Let people know how the session will be run. Let people know how you plan to run the session and collect their feedback. Avoid “Ta-da!” moments. Showing people a design and expecting them to be able to immediately give you useful, actionable feedback doesn’t work. Describe objectives. People need to know what the design is trying to accomplish. Remind everyone so that participants are all on the same page. Present quickly and efficiently. Don’t become bogged down explaining every detail of the design. Be careful when talking about constraints. Including them as part of your initial presentation can seem like you’re making excuses. Let the issue of constraints come up through questions.