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Everyone has an opinion on design.
There& #39;s always an immediate gut reaction: "Ooh, I love this!" or "Meh."
But how do you go beyond that to honing your skills of giving helpful, actionable feedback?
Here are the 7 questions I run through when critiquing a product& #39;s design
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There& #39;s always an immediate gut reaction: "Ooh, I love this!" or "Meh."
But how do you go beyond that to honing your skills of giving helpful, actionable feedback?
Here are the 7 questions I run through when critiquing a product& #39;s design
1) What is the user journey to get here?
You can’t furnish a room if you don’t know how someone lives.
So learn the context: Who is the user? When do they use this product? Why? How did they arrive here, and what& #39;s on their mind?
Don& #39;t critique unless you know this.
1/7
You can’t furnish a room if you don’t know how someone lives.
So learn the context: Who is the user? When do they use this product? Why? How did they arrive here, and what& #39;s on their mind?
Don& #39;t critique unless you know this.
1/7
2) What do we want users to feel and achieve here?
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.”
Let’s understand what a successful outcome looks like before we start lobbing feedback about the design.
2/7
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.”
Let’s understand what a successful outcome looks like before we start lobbing feedback about the design.
2/7
3) How important is this page/experience?
In a perfect world, we make everything perfect.
In the real world, let& #39;s spend more collective energy on the stuff that really matters. More eyeballs? More high-stakes? = more thorough inspection of every detail.
3/7
In a perfect world, we make everything perfect.
In the real world, let& #39;s spend more collective energy on the stuff that really matters. More eyeballs? More high-stakes? = more thorough inspection of every detail.
3/7
4) What is our scope/timeline/team?
If speed is critical, let’s get the greatest bang for the least effort. If we have more time and people, then let& #39;s remove constraints ( #7) and dream bigger. The "best" design differs according to the time/people/money you have.
4/7
If speed is critical, let’s get the greatest bang for the least effort. If we have more time and people, then let& #39;s remove constraints ( #7) and dream bigger. The "best" design differs according to the time/people/money you have.
4/7
5) For every proposed design change, am I confident it is better that what currently exists?
If no:
1) cut it
2) iterate on / improve the design
3) get more user feedback
4) A/B test it
Which to pick depends on the answer to #4
5/7
If no:
1) cut it
2) iterate on / improve the design
3) get more user feedback
4) A/B test it
Which to pick depends on the answer to #4
5/7
6) What can we remove from this experience and have it work just as well?
When faced with a problem, we bias toward adding stuff to solve it rather than removing. So gut check if it& #39;s necessary.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/our-brain-typically-overlooks-this-brilliant-problem-solving-strategy/
6/7">https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/o...
When faced with a problem, we bias toward adding stuff to solve it rather than removing. So gut check if it& #39;s necessary.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/our-brain-typically-overlooks-this-brilliant-problem-solving-strategy/
6/7">https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/o...
7) If we could throw all our constraints away, would we still design it like this?
While we can& #39;t typically throw all constraints away (see #4), it& #39;s still worthwhile to ask because we accept some things as constraints (due to legacy, etc) when they really aren& #39;t.
7/7
While we can& #39;t typically throw all constraints away (see #4), it& #39;s still worthwhile to ask because we accept some things as constraints (due to legacy, etc) when they really aren& #39;t.
7/7
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