What is a design critique session?

Think of it as a session of peer review with your colleagues who can bring a fresh design perspective to the project and might have faced similar design challenges in a different context. We want to raise the bar, move towards excellence with the support of our colleagues.

A critique session should be used to deeply analyse the product and provide helpful advice.

Why do we conduct a critique session?

“People who take on complicated creative projects become lost at some point in the process. It is the nature of things–in order to create, you must internalize and almost become the project for a while, and that near-fusing with the project is an essential part of its emergence. But it is also confusing.” Catmull, Co-founder of Pixar.

This is the space where we get that fresh perspective by ‘fostering creativity through candour’. We are adopting some tried and test practices from the Brain Trust format of Pixar.

We will aim to be frank and honest while sharing ideas, opinions and criticism.

Critique Format

We are adopting closely from the critique session at Figma

• Step 1: Set up
• Step 2a: Host team sets the context and presents the work (10-15 mins)
• Step 2b: Critics take notes while the team presents.
• Step 3: Clarifying Questions (2-5 mins)
• Step 4: Feedback: Round-The-Room (10-20 mins)
• Step 5: Thanks & follow ups (2-5 mins)

Are you hosting a critique session in your team? Here are some ground rules:

• Set the context: Take a few minutes to speak about the journey you and your team have taken, cover crucial milestones, the motivation and the goal of the projects.
• Share your goals for the session: Clarify what is open for feedback and what you want your colleagues to help you with. The more specific your are, the clearer feedback you’ll get. Decide if you want people to interrupt with questions, or wait until you’re done sharing, and let them know which you prefer. Include a slide dedicated to “Here’s the feedback I am looking for,” and conversely, “Here’s what I’m NOT looking for” to keep the discussion focused. Remind them to write down their thoughts as you’re going through the content.
• Create a safe and trustworthy environment: Be accepting of any and every idea that comes up, create an environment where people feel open to share their thoughts without the fear of judgement.