Implementing Design Critique at Yelp

As designers, it’s widely accepted that critique is a key ingredient to successful product design and development. It’s an important tool not only for receiving feedback but also for sharing insights across teams working on different aspects of the product. Critiques help us get out of our own heads by getting fresh eyes on a given problem in order to discover new potential solutions.

Though we can all agree that critique is a critical part of the design process for teams designing and developing digital products, implementing a critique process isn’t always so easy, and not every process will work on all teams.

Yelp Design Team, Before Formal Critique
When I first joined Yelp’s product design team, I was a little surprised to find out that there was no formal group critique process in place. I thought to myself, surely these talented designers are sharing and getting feedback on their work on a regular basis, right? They were, in fact — it was just in a much less formal way. The team had been utilizing a mixture of impromptu feedback tools, from in-person gatherings around a designer’s monitor to using our #critique Slack channel to post screenshots of designs that needed quick feedback.

While these methods seemed to be working to some extent, it was obvious to me and others that this process was not going to scale and was already beginning to show its flaws within a team that has nearly doubled in size over the past year.

Implementing Weekly Critique
Noticing this, we set out to revamp and formalize the team’s critique process. Knowing that we wanted dedicated critique times that were consistent from week to week, we set up three one-hour sessions on Thursdays in which groups of six to eight designers would get together and give feedback on two or three projects. We found that it worked best for us if we randomized the critique groups on a quarterly basis, exposing individual designers to every part of the product, and allowing them to offer insights on areas outside of their own.

Our critiques are not so different from ones at other companies. We have designated roles like Moderators, Presenters, and the Audience. We have at least two (sometimes three) Presenters a week to show projects ready for feedback. The Presenters are asked to set the stage by explaining the problem they are trying to solve, what stage their designs are in, and what type of feedback they are looking for. The Audience is encouraged to ask a lot of questions, as they often help to further explain the problem at hand and uncover hidden issues with the solutions being explored. The Moderator keeps the group focused and acts as a timekeeper, while also being an audience member. Additionally, Moderators are in charge of operational functions, like creating Slack channels for their critique group or setting the agenda for the critique sessions earlier in the week.

So Far, So Good

So how’s it going? Pretty well, we think! It is important to emphasize that critique is a work in progress, and its structure will constantly be evolving. Though there are a few kinks we’re still trying to iron out, our formal critique sessions have already helped the team out in a number of ways:

• Transparency
  Our critique sessions have helped spread greater awareness of what everyone on the team is working on. In our groups, we get a deeper look into the problems our coworkers are trying to tackle. Even outside of our crit groups, people continue to have deeper conversations about where projects are headed, what worked, and what didn’t..
• Communication
  Actual, in-person communication can be underrated with the prevalence of online communication channels, like Slack and Hangouts, but there’s so much less risk for misinterpretation when we talk to each other face-to-face.
• Camaraderie and Culture
  Inadvertently, these face-to-face critique sessions have made us closer, allowing the whole team to be more comfortable giving and receiving feedback.
• Growth
  Critiques have helped us get better at what we do … which is the whole point! It gets us out of our own heads, provides us with a safe place in which we can openly admit that we may be struggling with something, and pushes us to help as well as inspire each other. It also makes the products we build better for our users.

Next Steps
As I mentioned, critique is an evolving process, and there are definitely aspects we still need to iterate upon. Our to-do list includes figuring out how to more effectively incorporate remote folks as well as experimenting with inviting other stakeholders to critique sessions. By sharing our experience, I hope to both shed some light into Yelp’s process and help other growing teams out there. Like many things in life, the biggest challenge is starting; just by getting the ball rolling, the benefits of critique will be immediate and tangible.