If this is your first design critique (or it’s just been a while!), read through this doc before jumping into the meeting. Good etiquette is important to help us get to the right solutions together. Critique is about the work, not the person.
Design critiques are not presentations. They are intentionally fluid and open ended. The point is to bring designs that are work in progress and discuss clear next ideas for iteration.
We like raw Figma files more than we like Google Slides.
We like verbally talking through the story more than we like reading text on a screen.
We like leaving comments all over files so that others can get to comments later.
Lastly, everyone’s voice in the room is valuable and equally weighted. We check our egos and our titles at the [zoom] door.
Remember to keep it live, but here’s a good template for how to get the most of a crit:
If you have an opinion to share, start with a question. Genuinely look for context before trying to give guidance.
Sharing an opinion in a design critique is both valid and critical to the process—but by putting it in the form of a question, you’ll invite further context, scrutiny of your own reaction, and more conversation. These are all key to keep the ideas flowing and the design work moving in a forward direction. The alternative—making declarative statements—can halt a constructive conversation or invalidate someone’s hard work.
Further, asking questions invites people to learn a new skill on their own. They’re much more likely to retain a new fact when they discover it (with your guidance) than when they’re told it.
If you want to say: “You should have used a radio button there, not a check box.” Try: “Why did you use a check box there instead of a radio button?”