Rose, Bud, Thorn

https://www.colorado.edu/researchinnovation/rose-bud-thorn#:~:text=Each%20participant%20has%20an%20opportunity,to%20be%20improved%20(Thorn)

Chief Product Officer Yuhki Yamashita on how to embrace (and enjoy) endless iteration

Welcome to the WIP | Figma Blog

https://www.figma.com/blog/welcome-to-the-wip/

Actually I'll just share a real deck for a design crit I ran in the design phase of a specific initiative at Trustpilot (an independent platform for customer reviews).

Only omission is a slide w/Very Secret Business Metrics

https://files.jonas.so/design-crit-example-2021.pdf

this way, students might are "rewarded" with praise and engagement for walking through their process and justifying design decisions which is, I assume, a good habit for young designers to start building.

Think about what stood out to you and why

Thanks for sharing Jonas! How would you formulate a design intent based on your slides?

If you’re looking at design ask yourself first what are the different dimensions you’re analyzing; like the why of the design, its goals, the audience and also the logical and visual details, the content (meaning text) etc.

That’s what I would start advising students today

My pleasure! If you find an opportunity to try it out in a crit session, I’d be super happy to hear your thoughts

In our graphic design program, we spent weeks critiquing the the smallest differences between subtle variations. Like it would just be text on a page, trying to decide if 10pt/13pt looks better than 10pt/12.5pt.

Hmm.. maybe there’s an exercise you can do around actionable feedback?

I also like the tree metaphor. If there’s a tree of possible solutions, with each fork a decision, the group is trying to understand how the designer got to this branch, help them understand whether there’s other branches to look at, and if this is the path to the most fruit.

For context: This proposal was a bad solution trying to thread the needle between a misguided solution-mode, pre-validated solution proposal from the executive group and this crit session was a turning point enabling us to recede back a more exploratory drawing board-direction

I think working on a design critique method/framework could help a ton on this. Students usually associate 'critique' with something negative, so probably starting from there, letting them know that the rules are wide open can help create a good environment to kick this off

when i used to TA, i’d share Netflix’s 4A framework for giving and receiving feedback

for giving feedback: aim to assist and make it actionable

for receiving feedback: first appreciate the critique, then choose what you wish to accept or discard

Not sure how relevant this is but it made me think. For design feedback it could be like:

1. "That's bad"
2. "This is why it's bad"
3. "We could do x, y, z..."
4. "What do you think about x? Here's why..."
5. 4 but also "I mocked up x to demonstrate my idea"

I always describe design as a language. Ask them what resonates with them, and how they might interpret the other students design language so as to better speak to their own. Give examples "I'd love to see a softer shade of blue here, or an accent element here".

It forced us to develop more nuance in how we view design rather than "i like it" or "i dont like it". The really helped us hone in on the craft of design rather than the end result. 

Always focus on the process.

There is always a reason. Why do they like it? How does their reason apply to the communication or business goal of the work they’re reviewing? They might like it and it maybe or may not be “good” for the problem.

I think it is really important to leave a meeting with actionable next steps.I use the RBT method with my team. https://www.colorado.edu/researchinnovation/rose-bud-thorn#:~:text=Each%20participant%20has%20an%20opportunity,to%20be%20improved%20(Thorn).

I remember learnings something about the 5 levels of usefulness. I can't find it for the life of me. But it's something like:

1. Saying "there is a problem"
2. Defining the problem/why it is
3. Giving ideas for solutions
4. Recommending a solution
5. Implement the solution

Make the presenter define What they need feedback on.

Oh going to look this guide up right now to pull from!

Tips for ✨me✨on new approaches i can try to foster open discourse amongst my students is also welcomed. The class is virtual and I feel like I’m struggling to create meaningful engagement

Do you have any ideas for what a good exercise might be?

Love this! Such a simple language shift to help self-prompt a deeper answer

I like to start it as a designer asking for help from the group.  “What are you trying to achieve with this?” “How can we help make it better”

Also found the flashtags I discovered in this article really useful for framing feedback: https://www.figma.com/blog/welcome-to-the-wip/

(non design) student here. 

Asking questions about the thing that they "like" might also prompt the person being asked to walk through their process, which can unlock more conversation/iteration. 

"hey this x detail is impressive, what were you inspired by?"

I love the rules and instructions listed on the template too. Especially:
- critique must pertain to a specific design principle the author has predefined
- round robin style, 1 feedback item per person, then next person goes (🔁)
- if someone mentioned a point, don’t repeat it

Exactly, help them gain the tools and language to understand the different ways of how to view something. In my experience, breaking things down to the root intention will help students understand what is relevant and what isn't, beyond personal taste.

I love this subject haha

Asking them to take the next step — thinking about what/why they like or dislike it. And then share that feedback in a polite and informative matter.

Here’s the structure for how I run design crits + template I hand out to participants to use (shamelessly lifted from a previous job)

I would replace with "like" with "works." So instead of "I like it" you could prompt them to rephrase it as "It works because.."

I’m trying to teach my students how to give meaningful and constructive design feedback that’s not just “I like it”

What are some tips you’d share with them?

I’d love to hear any other thoughts you have on the topic! This is my first time teaching and it’s an interesting challenge trying to break down everything I just intuitively understand and practice into more functional methods

So almost breaking down the different directions you can analyze a design from to help them form their opinion?

I love that!

I think your sheet for framing feedback is great! Could include a comparison of ok vs better ways to frame feedback. Eg. i like this vs. I like your use of icons with these indicators because you’re not solely relying on color which is better for accessibility

That’s my goal for the start of today’s class! At minimum I want to put a sheet together of ways they can frame their feedback and have them utilize it when reviewing work

When you need to provide feedback always remember that you are not just giving an opinion, but rather an important part of their future, which will help them progress. Offer advice in a motivating way, like, "You've done great work! Here's a tip to make it even better.

I greatly appreciate the student-based perspective! I’m going to approach comments like this tonight while I work on pulling together some of the other items in this thread

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