Do's and don'ts for presentation and critique

Design presentation can be a very delicate process, especially the initial presentations for a new project. If handled incorrectly it can cause a lot of stress for both sides, feelings can get hurt, bad morale can build and lack of progress overall.

I've compiled several do's and don'ts that I have found helped a lot to improve this process in my career. I will continue to refine this document as time passes.

When presenting a design

• Do start by clarifying what the goals of the design were.
• Do give a quick overview of the design and present your arguments for the decisions you took. If it was based on data then present the data and clarify why you think the design will work with the data.
• Do remind the client who the design is for. Its not for them, its for the users. I like to ask them to try to stay away from personal preferences on color and other trivial things. Put yourself in the mindset of an average user and focus on things that would make it easier for them to use the product.
• Do make it clear what you still think needs more work, to avoid misunderstandings about the current state of the design.
• Do list the items next on your to-do list.
• Do specify how you want the comments to be made. For example by making comments on InDesign or as an issues on Github or card in trello or anthing else. Make it clear
• Don’t bring up your credentials to win an argument. For example by stating you are a designer so you are more likely to be right. Instead focus on solid arguments preferably backed by some research.
• Do make it clear how you believe your designs fit to the goals that were defined in the beginning

When criticising a design

• Do think before you comment. Does your comment provide useful information to the designer. Unless something looks exactly like something else and/or like a penis. Then I recommend staying away from polluting the conversation with comments like “The logo reminds me of a road sign because it is circular”.
• Do focus on constructive criticism. It is hard to do right and takes a lot of thought and good communication. So don't rush into it.
• Do try to focus on making arguments that will improve the experience and stay away from personal preferences on color and other trivial things.
• Put yourself in the mindset of an average user and focus on things that would make it easier for them to use the product.
• Don't get into arguments with someone whose opinion you don't respect.
• Do ask a lot of questions to try and understand the designers rationale if something is not clear.
• Don’t use harsh language and say things like “Why didn’t you do..”. Instead offer suggestions for improvement in a friendly way. Design is an iterative process and a designer is not a know-it-all superhuman who is able to design the perfect design in first go.
• Don’t claim to be the user. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you are the user because x,y,z but the truth is every user is different and humans tend to be too self-centric.
• Don’t bring up your credentials to win an argument. For example by stating you are a designer so you are more likely to be right. Instead focus on solid arguments preferably backed by some research.

Overall the key to success in these matters is comminication. Being careful what you say and how you say it no matter on which side you are is my biggest recommendation.

This list is a work in progress so I will update it as I remember more things that can help