Navneet Nair’s Kindle Notes & Highlights for Discussing Design: Improving Communication and Collaboration through Critique

Charrette 3 Participants are given 20 minutes to work collaboratively within their teams to come up with a singular design concept based on the critique they received in the last two rounds.

55%

One common fall back for situations like this is to, regardless of who happens to be in the same location, have everyone participate virtually.

55%

Even though their main activity is discussion of the design, the objective of these discussions is very different from those of a critique.

56%

We should not rely on design reviews as the only form of critique.

56%

Central Idea Design reviews present challenges to the core intention of critique: continuous improvement. But, because the techniques used in critique work to make feedback more useful in the design process, they can be used to improve feedback gathered during design reviews.

57%

Figure 5-1. The four questions that comprise the basic critique framework

58%

Central Idea Facilitation is an invaluable skill when it comes to gathering useful critique. Strong facilitation keeps critique conversations focused and productive.

58%

Everyone Is Equal

59%

Everyone Is a Critic

59%

Avoid Problem Solving

60%

Don’t Rush to Make Decisions on the Changes to Be Made

60%

When someone states that he likes or doesn’t like something in a critique, what’s important is to then facilitate the conversation to understand whether his reasons are pertinent to the objectives of the design.

60%

Central Idea Having rules for critique helps to set expectations for others as to how the critique session should work. It also helps participants by providing guidelines and boundaries to the framework for sharing their insights and having productive conversations. The rules should be shared with others before the session; in fact, it’s a good idea to post them in the meeting room.

61%

Ensure That the Team Knows the Critique Session Format and the Plans for Facilitating It

62%

When presenting work for feedback it is a common urge to overexplain things to ensure that those critiquing really understand the design, the choices that were made, and the reasons why they were made. But this approach can often slow things down and eat up the time in the meeting.

63%

Central Idea Proper preparation for a critique session can make a world of difference when it comes to getting the insights that will help improve what you are working on. Ensure that participants know what is being critiqued, how the sessions will be run, and what the goals of the session are.

64%

We need to determine scope and goals for the products we are creating in order to help us to stay on track and focus on our outcomes during the course of the project. Similarly, a successful critique should also have defined goals and scope to guide the team focused on collecting the relevant and desired insights of each session. The scope of a critique is an identification of the components of the design that the team will be analyzing and the objectives against which they’ll be analyzed.

65%

With the scope of a critique session set, identifying the goals can be fairly straightforward: Identifying what is working in the designs with respect to the identified scope Identifying anything that isn’t working in the designs with respect to the identified scope Gathering insights on any specific questions the designer may have Identifying any concerns, open questions, and assumptions

66%

We’ve also seen it used at the very end of a critique as a way to give everyone a chance to share anything they might not have gotten to during the critique.

66%

With Quotas, the facilitator lets the team know that an objective of the critique is to collect a certain number of things that are working well and things that aren’t (often two that aren’t and one that is) from each participant. For example, each participant should share two aspects of the design that they feel are strong, and one that isn’t.

68%

The Six Thinking Hats is a lens-based analysis technique. When using the Six Thinking Hats, team members all wear the same color hat at the same time; this keeps everyone analyzing the designs through the same “lens,”

69%

Central Idea To keep a critique on track and effective, we need to be able to react and respond to situations as they arise. Familiarize yourself with a variety of techniques and the situation they best fit so that you’re prepared to handle whatever comes up.

69%

However, that’s not where things end. After the critique, it’s important that the team follows up on these assumptions and questions. Take the time to list them, share them with the team, and, if applicable, assign any responsibilities to team members for following up on specific items.

70%

Go through and fix any minor “quick hits,” that is, typos, copy-paste errors, and small alignment issues. Create a to-do list by reorganizing the notes and framing insights as actions. For example, a note such as, “The news feed is too prominent, because...” would be changed to, “Explore options for decreasing the prominence of the newsfeed....” Go through the to-do list and try to organize it in some sort of loose priority.

70%

Relevancy of the feedback to the product’s objectives.

70%

Immediacy of the feedback.

70%

Amount of agreement.

70%

Source of the feedback.

70%

Go through and, using the priority, determine which items won’t be addressed.

70%

After the critique is over, send an email to the participants thanking them for their involvement, laying out next steps, and specifying when the next session will be held and what will be covered in that session.

70%

Central Idea Critique is a living process that continues through the life of a product. Follow up after sessions with next steps, insights gathered during the session, and outstanding questions to keep momentum moving forward and the process alive.

71%

Everyone is equal Everyone participates Avoid problem solving Don’t rush to make decisions

71%

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 ...more

72%

Central Idea There are going to be times when conversations and situations become challenging for a variety of reasons. Be prepared for them and don’t lose heart. Understanding the situation you’re in is the first step to forming a plan to work through these challenges.

74%

Central Idea Addressing difficulties that come up during the course of a conversation entails being able to identify issues and having tools to address them. Setting up conversations with shared references such as rules, objectives, focus, and so on provides a foundation for us to use throughout the critique.

74%

A similar method, called the “5 Whys,” is often used in projects to determine the root cause of a problem to be solved.

75%

Central Idea To deal with issues that can come up in a critique, you need to know what kinds of questions to ask as well as knowing when to ask them, even if that means doing it as part of a separate discussion.

82%

In the course of your conversation, your goal is to essentially construct a critique of your original proposed design using your critic’s design or changes as a discussion tool.

82%

Central Idea When situations become challenging, try to steer the conversation back to the main concerns. Engage the person or participants with whom you are working by keeping

83%

Not all feedback is wanted, relevant, or actionable. This is to be expected and we should do our best to salvage what we can from it, if possible. When giving feedback to someone who has difficulty receiving it, be considerate, focus your language on the work (not the person) and the iterative aspect of critique, be honest, and balance the conversation around strengths and weakness. Facilitating reactive or directive feedback relies heavily on a methodical asking of the question “Why?” Ensuring that everyone involved in a group critique has an understanding of what useful feedback (critique) ...more

This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.