How to run simple and effective design reviews
A peer review framework for sharing design feedback.
As designers, we are always looking for ways to improve our work. Feedback is a crucial part of this. My advice is, no matter what you are working on, to be showing your designs constantly. Maybe you need to make sure you are going in the right direction, you want to gather new ideas or you need a different fresh perspective. Either way, you need to ask someone other than yourself to give you their opinion.
The problem is, sharing design feedback is difficult. It can be tough for the person who gives it, trying to speak clearly and to be honest without hurting the designer’s feelings, and it can be especially hard for the designer who has to listen and get something out of it. Getting ideas across can take a lot of time, people often get lost in small details, or the discussion might get heated making the whole situation uncomfortable. Chances are that you have been in a feedback session that has turned into a bit of a nightmare.
What can you do about this?
I am here to present to you: Design Reviews. This is an activity where designers can gather fast feedback to learn and improve his or her solution. I run these feedback sessions with fellow designers but you can also bring developers and other members of the team.
The design review matrix
To keep things simple, I recommend using a matrix or canvas. Using a matrix guides peoples’ thoughts and helps categorize comments to make them more useful. It is always helpful when you need to bring up new and specific information about a topic.
The matrix is divided into four areas:
- Likes: Elements you like and enjoy about the design.
- Ideas: Anything that might improve the solution.
- Challenges: Problems or things that are not completely solved yet and might require more thinking or a new approach.
- Questions: Things you did not get or context you may be lacking to fully understand the problem or solution.
Did you notice that there is no “dislikes” or “critiques” area? Stating this kind of comments as questions or challenges makes a real difference and gives the session a positive feel. This way, every note feels like constructive feedback.
Let’s start with the Design review
What you will need:
- Time: 30 minutes
- Participants: 1 designer who presents his/her work and 3–6 reviewers
- Materials: Post-it notes and markers
Step by step
- Set up: You or the designer can draw the matrix on a whiteboard or use tape on a wall. You don’t need anything fancy, it just needs to be visible for the team. Give each person some post-its notes and a marker.
- Describe the activity: Start by briefly explaining to the participants what is going to happen. Explain the feedback matrix and the fact that everyone has to listen in silence and write their thoughts, which the group will read later.
- Listen: The designer will share the context of the project and the problem he or she is trying to solve. The designer goes through explaining the solution, the decisions made and possible blockers or doubts. When the designer is ready, give a couple of minutes for everyone to finish writing their notes.
- Share the notes: People stand up and stick their notes on the matrix. The designer starts reading the post-it notes one by one. I recommend starting with Questions, following by Challenges, then Ideas and Likes at last. The person who wrote each comment can give more details on their thoughts, but try to spend time wisely and keep the focus on each topic.
- Thank you: Thank everyone for taking the time to be there and give useful feedback.
You will need some discipline in the group, as everyone needs to be willing to listen silently first and then comment with limited time. Time-boxing the activity to 30 minutes can help everyone to keep it short and sweet. Also, the designer has to be open to feedback and truly value different points of view.
My experience
At kunder, we run one Design review meeting a week for each designer. (That makes it more than 100 sessions until now!) We usually do this activity with a group of designers and invite developers to complement views and learn about design. In our experience, it has turned out great.
When I first wanted to try this approach, my goal was to create a system where designers can give honest and constructive feedback. As the Product Design Lead, I was worried that designers from different teams were not sharing enough and that feedback was not getting across very well.
As of right now, I can say that we have improved the quality of design, we have more consistency through every solution we deliver and make fewer mistakes. It has allowed us to be constantly sharing our ideas and learnings, powering collaboration. More importantly, this has helped us enable a positive feedback culture amongst designers.
Credit for the feedback matrix goes to Sean Harris, in his article: How to conduct design review meetings that don’t get derailed.
