On Jan 26, 2008 8:41 AM, David Malouf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Critique: is a real time review of designs, among peers (fellow > designers), > who not only evaluate (aka judge your designs), but most certainly begin a > short process of co-designing. It is often expert led, but everyone is > involved at all levels of critique and analysis and contribution. The goal > is to give guidance, not to give answers (except where the designers come > asking for explicit help. The other goal is to elicit further exploration > by > increasing cerebral participation. > > The critique session can be a challenging and threatening experience for those unaccustomed to it. Work is up on the wall or screen, and designers just as good as you take potshots at it and tell you all the ways it can be improved. The first dozen or two times this happens, especially on something you really care about, it feels like your heart's being torn out. After that, you learn to be a bit detached from your design artifacts. You still care deeply, but you can let go and look from a place of perspective when your work is being critiqued, and join in yourself.
Design school lets you get these first heartbreaking experiences with critique going in a safe environment. You're not going to get fired if your classmates can't get behind your work. You learn to "step back". You learn to take it. I worked on a team of designers a while back where nobody else came out of a studio environment or graphic/industrial design school. I wanted to introduce critiques but didn't want them to be threatening. So we experimented by meeting every couple weeks to critique something else - an external website typically - that none of us had worked on. It's not the same as a session focused on work that comes out of the team, but it's a starting point. After a couple of those, I volunteered to have one of my current design projects critiqued, and the team began to be more comfortable and knew what to expect. Like music or any other craft, it takes practice to develop critique skills to a sensitive and useful level. But the "group mind" is very powerful and everyone on the team will grow as a result. Michael Micheletti ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
