[IxDA Discuss] Learning to design - critiques

[adamya ashk]

Hi Donna,

What an interesting post! I enjoyed reading many of the replies here. Most
make a lot of sense.

Here's my 0.02.

Peer critiques are definitely valuable. I always dreaded them in school
however, because (I felt) a lot depends on the presentation skills of the
designer than the design being critiqued in the sessions.

Design by it's nature is an activity where it's difficult 'not to be'
invested in the solution. It takes an exceptional individual or many years
of practice to achieve the sort of 'detachment' required for peer reviews,
especially in a professional environment where other pushes/pulls might be
present.

You can try to have more than one person work on sub-projects where ixd
skills are required. I find people learn quickly when working together.

I have also found that doing a lot of work on the whiteboard helps as it
makes one focus on the essentials. For internal team reviews (if the design
is not too complicated)  ask team members to present by drawing in
real-time. This will get around presentation issues and will encourage
change.

If you are in the 'lead' position (and looked at as the expert) a lot will
depend on the direction you set. Someone mentioned setting goals. Setting
direction is similar. Like an over-all design strategy for the project. Try
to put it in words, a few paragraphs. If the whole team can come-up with the
strategy so much the better. People will feel a sense of ownership. The
central idea being that solutions will be guided by this central concept.

HTH,

-Adamya Ashk
Information Architecture, Staples Inc.

On 7/31/06, Donna Maurer <donnam at maadmob.net> wrote:
>
> [Please voluntarily trim replies to include only relevant quoted
> material.]
>
> Hi IxDers
>
> I started today at a new contract leading a new UCD team on a hugely
> important project. In doing so discovered that some of my team are fine
> at UCD techniques (interviews, paper prototype testing, usability
> testing) but are completely missing the vital element in the middle -
> interaction design!
>
> I have some strategies to work through this, and something I want to try
> is to incorporate the idea of peer critiquing. This is something I know
> is often done in design & visual arts training but, not having grown
> from either of those areas, don't know a lot about it.
>
> I need some places to start reading or smart people to chat to. I'm
> trying to get my hands on a copy of Schon's 'the reflective
> practitioner' but am not sure where else to start. I'm not even quite
> sure how to phrase my question...
>
> TIA
>
> Donna
>
>
> --
> Donna Maurer
> Maadmob Interaction Design
> e: donna at maadmob.net
> web: http://maadmob.net/maadmob_id/
> book: http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/cardsorting/
>
>
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