Design Series:
Effective ways of reviewing design
By Neo Cheung
When fresh designs of an app or website need to be reviewed by the client, many methods are out there to get the feedback from clients on these designs. A common way of sharing designs to the reviewer is sending it as attachment by email. When it comes to gathering feedback from multiple collaborators inside the project, e-mail conversations often become a large accordeon of replies after a few feedback iterations. This is where it becomes hard to keep track of all the communication.
There must be a solution for this right?
The answer is InVision app. InVision brands itself as: “The world’s leading prototyping, collaboration & workflow platform”. This tool become in handy when it comes to prototyping an app or website and make the designs clickable for a sharable prototype. The cool thing about this feature is that you can add several gestures and screen transitions so it simulates a working user interface. InVision is web-based so it makes it possible for reviewers to get the prototype via a simple url, e-mail, sms, embedded code or even a download to preview it offline. This makes it easy for everyone to review designs on any device. Placing a comment on a specific spot can be done in a second. When you’re done updating the design, this comment can be marked as “Done”. After review, the screen status can be changed to “Approved” to keep the overview of the “To Do’s”. Awesome right?
Review together
Another great feature within InVision is Live Sharing; you can present your designs to your collaborators in real-time through a shared live stream. A two-way communication that allow the team to be flexible, saving time and money. Live sharing allows you to point on certain spots while you’re presenting the designs. This makes it easier for collaborators to follow the presentation. To complete the collaboration experience, the chat function is also available in addition to the live sharing screen.
The greatest features of InVision:
- Real-time design presentation & collaboration
- Fast and easy prototyping tool with real gestures
- Guidance through designs using the “Tour” feature
- Commenting on specific spots in the design screen
- Reviewing on any web supported device
- User activity log
- Versioning control
- Conversations in comments and live sharing
- Review status per screen
Conclusion
InVision is need when it comes to reviewing designs when you’re not at the client. The features it provides makes it a lot easier to get the design refining process done. Trying this tool makes it less attractive to use e-mail for sharing designs with your project team or clients. Another great benefit to keep in mind; InVision team is pro-actively improving and updating this tool.
