Critique template

A way to give and receive constructive feedback

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Critique

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This template offers a structured way for designers to gather feedback on their proposed solutions to problems.

Provided in the template are: Areas for presenting the solutions and adding basic instructions, including suggested formats for how to present the solutions and frame your request for feedback, as well as an area for analysis with your team.

The critique template helps you:

Guide you team through a comprehensive review session
Gather valuable and constructive feedback
Analyze potential strengths and weaknesses
Brainstorm pathways to improve in a focused, positive way

How to use the critique template

To use this template, structure your session in three segments: First, present your proposed solutions; next, allow time for your team to brainstorm and write down their feedback; and finally, bring everyone back together to analyze the feedback and apply it to the current design.

Step 1: Present your proposed solutions

Use the beginning of your critique session to present the proposed solutions, making sure to provide as much context (including visuals) as necessary. This is crucial in order to ensure that you are gathering meaningful feedback in the following steps.

Step 2: Individual brainstorming

Break out as individuals, and have everyone spend 10 minutes silently recording their ideas, with the goal of answering the following questions:

What do you like about this solution?
What don’t you like about this solution?
What are some ideas you have to improve this solution?

Pro-tip: Use Mural’s private mode tool to avoid groupthink during this individual ideation session.

Step 3: Analyze feedback as a group

Once your team has had time to record their ideas, bring everyone back together to go over the feedback and see how it might apply to the proposed solution. Note: It can be useful to drag sticky notes over to the parts of the solution where they apply to make your feedback more actionable after the meeting.

Tips for running a critique template exercise

To get the most out of your critique, you should:

Make sure to keep things on track using the timer tool
Use Mural’s private mode (as noted above) and anonymous voting to help determine the best path forward
Once you have gathered all your feedback, organize it by theme using tags or color coding to create actionable next steps within the same workspace

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Critique template FAQs

How do you structure a critique session?

To structure a critique session, start by presenting your proposed solutions and providing context. Next, break out into individual brainstorming sessions where everyone spends 10 minutes silently recording their ideas.

The goal is to answer the questions: what do you like about this solution? What don’t you like about this solution? What are some ideas you have to improve this solution?

Finally, bring everyone back together to go over the feedback and analyze how it might apply to the proposed solution. This is a structured way to gather feedback and analyze potential strengths and weaknesses, ultimately leading to pathways for improvement in a focused, positive way.

What are the responsibilities of a critique facilitator?

The responsibilities of a critique facilitator may include presenting the context and progress so far, inviting feedback across different categories, organizing feedback by theme, and creating actionable next steps within the same workspace. The facilitator should also ensure that the session stays on track using the timer tool and consider using Mural's private mode and anonymous voting to help determine the best path forward.

How do you structure feedback in a critique session?

Feedback in a critique should be structured into three buckets: What do you like? What don’t you like? What ideas do you have for improvement?

When gathering feedback in a critique session, it’s important to have everyone not only identify what they like or don’t like about a given solution, but also the reasons behind their thinking. As a facilitator, encourage each participant to be as specific and detailed as possible about the aspects they like or don’t like, as well as their ideas for improvement.

Not only does this help all participants think more carefully about their responses, but also fosters better alignment and understanding across your team, and makes feedback more actionable.

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