How to not fail at a design critique (like I did)
Three easy tips for getting great feedback
As a product designer, knowing how to host structured design critiques is a critical skill. Gathering feedback from your peers in a way that moves the design forward rather than creating churn or confusion is a delicate art. During my first few months at Thumbtack, I participated in a number of design crits, helping me create a short guide of best practices. But before I share what I learned, I need to share how I failed.
It was 4 weeks into my employment at Thumbtack, and I was feeling pretty good about the state of my first project. I knew this critique was my chance to make a good first impression on the design team leaders. And did I? Definitely not.
First, I spent way too long presenting the context, resulting in less time to actually gather feedback. After that mistake, I made another: diving into my poorly-structured file, making it difficult for the group to understand and critique.
Fortunately, that experience didn’t cost me my job, but instead led to important growth in my design skillset, since Thumbtack encourages learning from mistakes. Here are tips for avoiding the first-crit flop:
Tip 1: Get to know your content
In order to present clearly, it’s important to have a thorough understanding of the problem, hypothesis, and goals of the project. This will benefit you when it comes time to clearly explaining your work and solicit feedback.
If the entire room is aligned on the problem you’re addressing, your stakeholders will have an easier time providing effective feedback on your design solutions.
Once you’ve explored all the options, make sure to develop your own opinion of which direction makes the most sense to you and why. This will allow you to direct the meeting and get you closer to an actionable outcome.
Tip 2: Organize your file
One of the most important ways to set yourself up for success is to organize your design file to be understandable asynchronously. In other words, your fellow designer with little to no context on the project should be able to open the file, navigate it, and understand it as if you were next to them.
Ultimately, a clear and simple project layout is key to helping your presentation go smoothly.
The way you lay things out will always be project-dependent, but a general layout that includes title, context, option 1, option 2, option 3, etc. is what I aim for. Once all the options are laid out, I make an artboard next to each that explains the differences, pros, and cons. After the design file is set up correctly, I write out the high-level context, problem statement, hypothesis, and open questions in the document.
Bonus: write a pre-read. This is a document that typically includes the stage of the design process you’re in, high-level context, problem, hypothesis, and the top questions you need to be answered. If you send this out to your stakeholders the day before the meeting, you should be able to jump right into the designs instead of wasting time explaining the context.
Tip 3: Walk through your options
When it comes time for the actual presentation, all your preparation will pay off huge.
This is your meeting. You have the power to take charge and direct the conversation since you already identified the problem and formed a hypothesis. Start by explaining the highest-level information and work downwards from there.
Communicate what is required to make the project successful, show the options, talk about the pros and cons, then pause for questions. Make sure to gather feedback and opinions on what you need most. It’s always important to remember to ask for opinions from people who may not be the loudest in the room.
Make sure to watch the time so you can get through everything necessary. A common trap is having a great discussion about one part of the project but not getting to the rest, still leaving you with questions. Make sure to move on and show all of the options.
If you haven’t gotten answers after going through the options, repeat the high-level info, including pros and cons — then ask specific questions to get you to your answers.
This is just my process, but you may find success with other techniques. Every designer needs to find a process that works for them and their organization. Please don’t hesitate to reach out — I’d be happy to answer any questions or discuss the ideas.
A special thank you to David Zandman, Evan Smith, and Theo Folinas for their help reviewing this.
