1.
DISCUSSDESIGN
Without Losing Your Mind
Adam Connor
EXPERIENCE DESIGN DIRECTOR
Aaron Irizarry
PRODUCT DESIGNER

2.
Conversations can
hurt
Something about pain in conversations.

3.
The new Spotify design is perhaps even worse than the old Spotify
design. The visual hierarchy and underlying IA are terrible.
I would never use this. I don’t
like the layout.
We should make that a dropdown
instead of radio buttons.
This is terrible. I have no idea what
the lines mean.
We're disappointed in this solution. We're going to have our own
designers come up with one.
I like the paper form better.
None of this is what I asked for.
Here is a rewrite. My intention
is to sharpen the language,
make it more precise.
Looks ugly. Make it pretty.
What. The hell. Is this?
Make it look more
like SharePoint.
What kind of company shuts down a much-loved
service like Google Reader but keeps the vegetative
Google Plus?
I'm just not feeling it. I don't know what, but
It doesn't have enough spunk.
The wireframes are still not answering our
problem and are not providing enough an easier
solution for the page.
No. That won’t work. What if
we do it this way...
it isn't right yet. Just needs to be more
innovative.
Change the order of the screens so that
the 3rd and first one are switched.
It needs more flululululuh!!
It’s laid out too much like [popular service]. We should be
different.

4.
The new Spotify design is perhaps even worse than the old Spotify
design. The visual hierarchy and underlying IA are terrible.
None of this is what I asked for.
We should make that a dropdown
instead of radio buttons.
What. The hell. Is this?
Here is a rewrite. My intention
is to sharpen the language,
make it more precise.
Change the order of the screens so that
the 3rd and first one are switched.
No. That won’t work. What if
we do it this way...

5.
Critical
thinking

6.
Critique

7.
There are two facets to critique:
Giving & Receiving

8.
There are two facets to critique:
Giving & Receiving
INTENT
At their foundation is

9.
Giving critique with the wrong
intent is self focused.

10.
Giving critique with the right
intent is objective focused.

11.
When giving critique...
Use a filter.
Gather initial thoughts and reactions. Revisit them in
the right context.

12.
When giving critique...
Don’t assume.
Find out the reason behind thinking, constraints or
other variables.

13.
When giving critique...
Don’t invite yourself.
Get in touch and ask to chat about the design.

14.
When giving critique...
Lead with questions.
Show an interest in their process.

15.
When giving critique...
Talk about strengths.
Critique isn’t just about the things that aren’t working.

16.
Receiving
critique with
the right
intent takes
humility and
restraint.

17.
When receiving critique...
Remember the purpose.
Critique is about understanding and improvement,
not judgement.

18.
When receiving critique...
Think before responding.
Do you understand what the critics are saying?

19.
When receiving critique...
Participate.
Analyze your proposed solution with everyone else.

20.
When receiving critique...
Set the foundation.
Use prior agreements and objectives to get everyone
on the same page.

21.
A simple
plan.

22.
What was the creator
trying to achieve?

23.
What was the creator trying
How did they try to
to achieve?
achieve it?

24.
What was the creator
How didto achieve? to
trying they try
How effective were
achieve it?
their choices?

25.
What was the creator
How did they try to
trying to achieve?
How effective were
achieve it?
Why their choices?
is or isn’t what
they did effective?

26.
Standalone Critiques
Design Reviews
Collaborative Activities

27.
A few things to
keep in mind...

28.
The Rules
1 Avoid problem
solving.
2 Everyone is equal.
3 Everyone is a critic.
4 The designer is
responsible for
next steps.

29.
Set the right
foundation.

30.
Set your foundation with...
Personas
User Archetypes that describe their average
behaviors, goals, expectations, knowledge, etc.

31.
Set your foundation with...
Goals
Desired, measurable outcomes of the user
interacting with the product or service. Can be
user oriented, business oriented or both.

32.
Set your foundation with...
Principles
Desired qualities or characteristics of the
final solution.

33.
Set your foundation with...
Scenarios
Short narratives that the describe the desired
behaviors, thoughts, reactions, emotions, etc.
of the user as they move through a particular
flow or use case.

34.
Standalone Critiques
Design Reviews
Collaborative Activities

35.
Critique is about iteration and
improvement. So long as you’re
looking to improve on whatever
it is you’re doing, you’ve got an
opportunity for critique.

36.
Who gets an
invitation?

37.
Start
things off
on the
right foot.
Illustration by: Hugo A Sanchez

38.
Facilitating critique
Critique Goals
Direct Inquiry
Active Listening
Six Thinking Hats
Round Robin &
Quotas
Facilitators

39.
Yes.
You will meet
difficult
people.

40.
What comes
next?

41.
Standalone Critiques
Design Reviews
Collaborative Activities

42.
Design Reviews
have their
challenges.

43.
Solving the
review problem
Take control.
Recap objectives.
Pretend you’re
dealing with
difficult people.
Don’t rely on
them for critique.

44.
Standalone Critiques
Design Reviews
Collaborative Activities

45.
The ever popular
brainstorm
Artist Unknown

46.
Divergent
Thinking
Critique
Convergent
Thinking

47.
Critique
is at the core of
collaboration.

48.
Thanks!
Aaron Irizarry
PRODUCT DESIGNER
THISISAARONSLIFE.COM
AARON@THISISAARONSLIFE.COM
@AARONI
Adam Connor
EXPERIENCE DESIGN DIRECTOR
ADAMCONNOR.COM
ADAM@ADAMCONNOR.COM
@ADAMCONNOR
For more thoughts on critique, communication and collaboration, check out:
discussingdesign.com | @DiscussingD