Discussing Design: Improving Communication and Collaboration through Critique

Discussing Design: Improving Communication and Collaboration through Critique

Real critique has become a lost skill among collaborative teams today. Critique is intended to help teams strengthen their designs, products, and services, rather than be used to assert authority or push agendas under the guise of "feedback." In this practical guide, authors Adam Connor and Aaron Irizarry teach you techniques, tools, and a framework for helping members of your design team give and receive critique. Using firsthand stories and lessons from prominent figures in the design community, this book examines the good, the bad, and the ugly of feedback. You’ll come away with tips, actionable insights, activities, and a cheat sheet for practicing critique as a part of your collaborative process. This book covers: Best practices (and anti-patterns) for giving and receiving critique - Cultural aspects that influence your ability to critique constructively - When, how much, and how often to use critique in the creative process - Facilitation techniques for making critiques timely and more effective - Strategies for dealing with difficult people and challenging situations Adam Connor is an Experience Designer and VP of Organizational Design with Mad*Pow based in Portsmouth, NH. Since 2009, he has been helping teams and organizations all over the world understand how to better collaborate and create innovative new products and services. His work at Mad*Pow and background in experience design, computer science, film and illustration has taught him the value of delivering and receiving constructive feedback in the design process and the role it plays in enabling teams to work together creatively and productively. Aaron Irizarry is Director of User Experience for Nasdaq Product Design and has been building online products for startups and large corporations for over 10 years. Aaron is also a public speaker and consults with companies providing design studio and collaborative critique workshops to help their product teams and stakeholders/managers improve the discussion around product design. Aaron is heavily involved in the design community where he helps organize meetups and conferences.