Design Critiques

What the key components of a constructive design critique involve are clear goals, balanced feedback and specific, actionable insights.

First, establish clear goals for the critique session to guide the discussion and keep it focused. This ensures that feedback is in line with the objectives of the design project.

Second, balance your feedback by highlighting both the strengths and areas for improvement in the design. This approach brings about a positive atmosphere. It also encourages designers to feel valued and understood, rather than criticized.

Third, provide specific, actionable insights. Instead of vague comments like "improve this," offer concrete suggestions. For instance, you might suggest adjusting the color contrast to enhance readability or reorganizing the layout for better user flow.

Lastly, encourage open communication. Everyone who’s participating should feel free to express their thoughts without any fear of dismissal or judgment. This promotes a collaborative environment—and that environment should be one where diverse perspectives can lead to more innovative solutions.

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Common mistakes to avoid in design critiques include the following advice:

Balance your critique and mention both the strengths and the areas that need improvement. This approach keeps designers from feeling discouraged. What's more, it helps them see the value in their work.

Avoid vague comments. Be specific in your feedback. Instead of saying "This doesn't work," explain why. Why doesn't it work? Also suggest how to improve it. For example, you might say, "The text is hard to read against this background color; consider using a lighter shade for better contrast."

Ensure all team members get involved in the critique. Sometimes, only a few people dominate the conversation. That can lead to missing out on valuable insights from quieter team members. So, be sure to encourage everyone to share their thoughts.

Lastly, don’t make it personal. Critique the design—never the designer. This keeps the focus on improving the work. Plus, it maintains a respectful and constructive atmosphere.

Watch as Design Director at Société Générale CIB, Morgane Peng explains important aspects of how some stakeholders may view design-related topics: 

The best thing is to follow some steps:

Approach the session with an open mind. Understand that feedback aims to improve your work, not to critique you personally. This mindset helps you absorb and consider feedback more constructively.

Ask clarifying questions if you're unsure about a point or need more information. This shows that you're engaged and willing to understand the perspectives of others. It also helps refine the feedback to be more useful for your design improvements.

Take notes during the critique. This lets you review the feedback later—and it ensures you don't forget important points. Write down both the positive comments and the suggestions for improvement.

Thank everyone for their feedback. When you show appreciation, it encourages a positive and collaborative atmosphere for critiques in the future.

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To prepare for a design critique, follow these steps:

Define clear objectives for the critique. Decide what feedback you need and what areas of your design you want to focus on. This helps guide the discussion and makes it more productive.

Next, organize your work. Ensure your design is indeed presentable. Plus, make sure all needed materials are ready to go. They could be prototypes, wireframes and any relevant data or user research. This organization makes it easier for others to understand and critique your work effectively.

Anticipate questions that might arise during the critique. Think about potential weaknesses in your design. Prepare reasoned responses or ideas for improvement, too. This shows you’re thoughtful and proactive about your work.

Last—but not least—practice your presentation. Rehearse explaining your design decisions and the rationale you put behind them. This preparation ensures you communicate clearly and confidently during the critique.

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It depends. Some design critiques happen weekly or biweekly. This frequency keeps teams aligned. It ensures continuous improvement as well. Regular design reviews also help teams avoid major issues by catching them early. They foster an environment of feedback and learning. Teams can adapt this frequency based on project phases or milestones.

For example, in a fast-paced startup, weekly sessions might be called for. In a more mature product cycle, biweekly or monthly critiques might suffice. Each session should focus on specific goals and encourage open, constructive feedback.

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The best practices for remote design critiques are there to ensure everyone participates and communicates clearly. Use video calls to connect all team members. Before the meeting, share the designs and goals. This preparation allows participants to review the work and form their thoughts.

During the critique, use screen sharing to focus on specific design elements. Encourage everyone to speak and offer feedback. Keep notes of the main points and decisions. After the meeting, share these notes with the team.

Remote critiques benefit from a clear structure. Start with a brief overview—then move to specific feedback. End with a summary and next steps. This approach keeps the session focused and productive.

Watch as Design Director at Société Générale CIB, Morgane Peng explains important aspects of how some stakeholders may view design-related topics: 

Watch our Master Class Win Clients, Pitches & Approval: Present Your Designs Effectively with Todd Zaki Warfel, Author, Speaker and Leadership Coach. 

Todd Zaki Warfel explains how to present design work to clients in this video: 

You can use several tools to facilitate design critiques effectively. Zoom or Microsoft Teams help you host video calls for remote sessions. Miro or Mural offer digital whiteboards where team members can collaborate, annotate and brainstorm—all in real-time. Figma or Adobe XD let designers share their work and receive comments directly on the designs.

Trello or Asana help organize feedback and track changes or improvements. Slack channels that are dedicated to design discussions make sure continuous communication can happen. The use of these tools streamlines the critique process. It also enhances collaboration and improves the overall quality of design work.

Each tool serves a specific purpose—ranging from hosting the critique session to gathering and organizing feedback. Choose the ones that best fit your team's workflow and project needs.

Watch our Master Class Win Clients, Pitches & Approval: Present Your Designs Effectively with Todd Zaki Warfel, Author, Speaker and Leadership Coach. 

Todd Zaki Warfel explains how to present design work to clients in this video: 

Cultural considerations play a crucial role in design critiques. Different cultures have unique ways and approaches to giving and receiving feedback. For example, some cultures value directness—but others might see that as potentially rude and prefer a more subtle approach. It’s vital to respect these differences if you want to maintain a positive and productive environment.

The first thing is to understand the cultural backgrounds of your team members. This awareness helps you tailor your communication style. Encourage an open atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable enough to share their views. Use clear language. Avoid jargon that might confuse those from different cultures, too.

Another thing is to consider the visual and symbolic meanings in your designs and what they might mean around the world. Colors, symbols and layouts can have different connotations across cultures. Ensure your critique addresses these aspects to avoid misunderstandings and improve the design's global appeal.

To balance these cultural nuances enhances the effectiveness of your critiques. What's more, it fosters a respectful, inclusive environment.

Watch Author and Human-Computer Interaction Expert, Professor Alan Dix explain culture as an important consideration in design: 

A design critique and a design review serve different purposes in the design process. A design critique’s focus is to provide constructive feedback to improve a specific design. It involves a collaborative discussion—one where designers present their work and receive comments from peers, mentors or stakeholders. The goal there is to explore different perspectives, identify areas that need improvement and—indeed—refine the design.

A design review, however, is a more formal evaluation of a design against specific criteria or objectives. It often involves a broader range of participants. These can include project managers, clients and other stakeholders. The review assesses the design's alignment with business goals, usability standards and technical requirements. It results in decisions about moving forward, making changes or giving the design a green light for the next stages of development. Critiques focus on iterative improvement and learning. Reviews, meanwhile, aim at decision-making and ensuring the design meets its intended objectives.

Watch our Master Class Win Clients, Pitches & Approval: Present Your Designs Effectively with Todd Zaki Warfel, Author, Speaker and Leadership Coach. 

Todd Zaki Warfel explains how to present design work to clients in this video: 

To handle conflicting opinions during a design critique, try this:

Acknowledge each viewpoint. Show that you respect all feedback. This approach is good for fostering a positive environment where everyone feels heard.

Ask clarifying questions to understand the reasons behind each opinion. This helps you see the underlying concerns or suggestions. Encourage participants to focus on the design's goals and the user's needs—not just personal preferences.

Seek common ground between conflicting opinions. Look for ways to combine or compromise on ideas that are in the best interests of the project. Use evidence—like user research or design principles—to guide the discussion and make decisions that are really informed.

Ultimately, though, if disagreements persist, prioritize the feedback based on its impact on the design and the user experience. You may need to test different solutions or seek further input to resolve the conflict effectively.

Watch as Design Director at Société Générale CIB, Morgane Peng explains important aspects of how some stakeholders may view design-related topics: 

Watch our Master Class Win Clients, Pitches & Approval: Present Your Designs Effectively with Todd Zaki Warfel, Author, Speaker and Leadership Coach. 

Todd Zaki Warfel explains how to present design work to clients in this video: 

Alabood, L., Aminolroaya, Z., Yim, D., Addam, O., & Maurer, F. (2022). A systematic literature review of the design critique method. Information and Software Technology, 153, 107081.  

This journal article presents a systematic literature review of the design critique (DC) method in human-computer interaction (HCI) and user experience (UX). The authors highlight the rising need for new evaluation methods for emerging technologies—and the rising importance of the design critique method in this context. The review aims to provide an overview of the DC method in UX studies and propose a generic process for how to conduct DC studies. Through thematic analysis of selected papers, the authors identify three different trends of DC processes (detailed, moderate and minimal). They also explore attributes such as participant categories, data collection methods and data analysis methods used in each process. The article proposes a 10-step generic DC process. It's divided into three main phases: preparation, conducting the design critique and post-processing. The findings indicate that domain experts are the most common participants in DC studies—interviews and script coding analysis being the prevalent methods for data collection and analysis, respectively. The authors highlight the potential of the DC method to improve overall system usability by addressing design flaws early in the development process, and its alignment with the lightweight, iterative approach of Agile methodologies.

Nedić, D. (2022). Critiquing the design critique: Examining traditional assessment methods and shifting to new ways of co-sharing feedback. Design Issues. 

This paper presents a collaborative effort by a cross-institutional team of design faculty and students from various universities. These universities include the University of Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The authors aim to critically examine traditional modes of critique in design education. These often have their roots in Western European and historically dominant ideas about visual art and canonical art theory. The authors argue that these traditional methods perpetuate knowledge hierarchies and vertical interactions between instructors and students—and this limits the exchange of roles and dynamics that align with diverse cognitive needs, identities, personalities and ways of learning and communicating. The paper advocates for a shift towards more decolonial, inclusive and context-based design education by questioning traditional methods of criticism and involving students as active participants in the inquiry process. The authors propose to facilitate a horizontal space of criticality—one where participants can develop and apply new formative and summative assessment methods based on their unique experiences in the classroom. This influential work challenges the status quo in design critiques and encourages a more inclusive and empowering approach to co-sharing feedback and fostering a collaborative learning environment.

Connor, A., & Irizarry, A. (2015). Discussing Design: Improving Communication and Collaboration through Critique. O'Reilly Media, Inc.  

This influential book by Adam Connor and Aaron Irizarry focuses on improving communication and collaboration within design teams through the practice of critique. The authors emphasize the importance of effective critique as a crucial component of the design process—enabling teams to strengthen their designs, products and services. The book provides practical strategies and techniques for facilitating productive critique sessions—ones that foster a collaborative and judgment-free environment. It addresses common challenges that come up during critiques, such as defensive reactions, conflicts and communication breakdowns. It offers guidance on how to navigate difficult situations. With the use of real-life examples, personal testimonials and illustrations, the authors demonstrate the principles and best practices of effective critique. The book aims to help designers, developers, project managers and other professionals who are involved in the design process to enhance their critique skills—and enjoy the results of better communication, collaboration and—ultimately—improved design outcomes.