Discussing Design: Improving Communication and Collaboration through Critique

When I started reading "Discussing Design: Improving Communication & Collaboration Through Critique," I wasn't sure this book was necessary. It seemed to be merely a compilation of group communication principles (plus some user experience design techniques) covered in many other resources. By the time I finished reading, I'd changed my mind. This tutorial on communication and collaboration methods does contain some familiar concepts. However, it's tailored to meet the distinctive needs of designers (and those who work with designers) in environments where "getting feedback" is a common workplace expectation (or a desired outcome), but acquiring meaningful, useful information that truly enhances and advances a project can be difficult to accomplish.In the opening pages of their book, authors Adam Connor and Aaron Irizarry define "critique" as "analysis that helps us understand what is working and what isn't [in products or ideas for products] and whether we are on the right track toward reaching our goals." They explain that good critique is related to specific aspects of a product or a decision, is aligned with project objectives or best practices, and is a way to examine how and why the objectives are or aren't being supported in the most current version of the product. They contrast useful critique with feedback that is simply a quick gut reaction, or a way that people reveal their own (often biased) vision for the product or idea being discussed. They confront directly the art/design school stereotype of critique, in which work by a novice is figuratively (or possibly literally) "ripped apart" by a senior designer.The first chapter, "Understanding Critique," also examines benefits that "real" critique brings to workplace teams: building opportunities to develop shared vocabularies and advance collaborative decision-making among people with disparate backgrounds and responsibilities. In addition, "real" critique assists the iterative (and often time-sensitive) work processes favored by many design-oriented organizations.Chapter 2, "What Critique Looks Like," explains in detail how to give and receive critique, including recognizing and promoting the mindset needed for critique, along with examples of applying specific techniques like "lead with questions" and "don't assume" (instead find out the constraints that might have affected design decisions).Chapter 3, "Culture and Critique," acknowledges that applying good critique skills is not easy in some organizational settings. The chapter provides useful, workable approaches to dealing with organizational politics and entrenched processes that can inhibit meaningful collaboration on product improvements.Chapter 4, "Making Critique a Part of Your Process," continues the explanation of how to integrate critique into organizational settings, and examines three distinct opportunities for critique: in meetings or discussions focused solely on critique, in activities focused on generating and selecting ideas, and in formal review meetings intended to gain "sign off" for a product.Chapter 5, "Facilitating Critique," provides guidelines for setting up a critique session and keeping it focused and useful.Chapter 6, "Critiquing with Difficult People and Challenging Situations," revisits situations that lead to "communication miscues, conflict, and frustration" and gives additional examples of techniques and strategies for dealing with and resolving these challenges.Chapter 7 summarizes all of the key points from previous chapters, and then encourages the reader to "Go forth, create, critique, and collaborate."An appendix on "The 10 Bad Habits that Hurt Critique" provides tips for avoiding or eliminating behaviors (while facilitating or participating in critique) that "put hurdles in the way of good communication."Throughout the book, personal testimonials (some from the authors and some from other designers and executives) are used to elaborate on and give concrete examples of the general principles under discussion. Other examples are provided through cartoon-style illustrations as well as photos and screen shots.Structurally, the book contains numerous brief summaries of Central Ideas, each displayed in a visually distinctive way. Also, every chapter ends with a longer summary of all of that chapter's central ideas. These document design techniques make it easy for the reader to skim the entire text and quickly locate key points (although on first reading, the frequent summaries also add redundancy-- which the authors acknowledge periodically).Early in "Discussing Design," the authors assert that critique is not just a set of communication techniques to be used in design-focused work processes; it's a life skill that can be used to apply fundamental principles of critical thinking to "any activity or thing you want to improve." I'm not yet convinced that I want to apply Connor and Irizarry's formal analysis process to every element of my life that could benefit from revisions-- but I'll gladly recommend this book to the designers I work with (graphic designers, product designers, and web designers/developers; raw beginners as well as seasoned veterans) and to others I know who work with designers. The book "Discussing Design" builds a strong case and demonstrates a usable model for improving design-related conversation and collaboration.

I am not sure how I came across with this book but when I read it the first time last year it totally blew my mind.In my work I had become somewhat frustrated about how we communicated about our designs and the message of the book connected 100%. Could this dead simple method really help to improve the way we communicate and to do better design? I made a new year’s promise to try it out and during the last winter and spring we’ve had several design critique sessions.I found the sessions valuable even if we did not facilitate them in the same rigor as the book suggests. We also facilitated a training workshop about the method with a colleague and the participants really seemed to get excited about the topic. Future shows if the method earns its place in their toolbox. We’ll also continue running the critique sessions in the fall and I still find myself to be excited about this.So I truly recommend this book to all designers, product owners and managers, developers etc! The magic in it is that you can use it critique not only interaction design but also business concepts, technical solutions etc.

“Critique isn't about judgement. It’s about analyzing the design so that you can improve it.”"One of the most common question designers I mentor have asked me is "How do I give an effective critique?" It's a difficult thing. People can be very sensitive about their creations. If a critique sounds judgemental, the person whose work is being critiqued can take it as a slight against their skills as a professional.Discussing Design addresses the soft skills needed to improve critique interactions, and to help create a collaborative, judgement-free environment for the participants.This book outlines very specific best practices for critiquing in a way that is easy to understand, and easy to communicate to others. The unique illustrations help tell the story of specific ways to make critique effective and how to avoid giving feedback that would result in a defensive response. It even tackles tough topics of organizational culture and territorialism.This is a book I have recommended, and will continue to recommend, to my colleagues and to designers I mentor. I would love to detail all the goodness wrapped up in this book, but it is too expansive to fit in a review. You will just have to read it for yourself.

A useful discussion but I think most designers and product managers will disagree with much of the material. In my team it did help to get us started discussing how we critique design. I think that the book makes the idea of co-located collaboration seem easy without discussing any of the methodologies that would facilitate that. Having worked in multiple organizations with co-located contributors I have found collaboration with distributed teams to be difficult bordering on impossible and I hoped this book would provide more insights to improve this collaboration. That said there isn't a better book dedicated to discussing and critiquing design so these guys definitely deserve credit for broaching such a difficult topic.

In the past year I’ve purchased multiple copies of Discussing Design. A few copies I’ve given to others to help them better understand the art of facilitating a great design critique. Other copies I’ve referenced so many times they’ve become too worn out. With the help of this book my team has went from making assumptions and ill informed decisions to leveraging critiques to know where to iterate and how to better achieve the overall objectives of our products. When it comes to understanding critique, getting and giving feedback you won’t find a better book. Needless to say, I can’t recommend Adam and Aaron’s book enough!

Thought provoking and insightful. Can't wait to try and apply to current projects.

Great read that inspired our team to formalise an official structure and rules around critiques. It's already had a positive effect on the team and our design output. Thanks

Awesome book