Drop the Dot Stickers: How to Facilitate a Remote Design Critique

Scaled Agile shares their strategy for increasing communication, effectiveness and success.
Written by Erik Fassnacht
September 15, 2021Updated: September 15, 2021

Post-It notes, dot stickers, printouts, markers and whiteboards: These are just a handful of the tools used at a traditional design critique.

But what happens when a design critique shifts to remote? 

For one thing, many of those analog tools must find digital counterparts. For another, one of the most important aspects of a traditional design critique — the ad-hoc one-on-one discussions — need space to flourish within the cacophony of full-group video teleconferencing.

Some solutions make sense off the bat: pre-meeting prep, synchronized talk time for each person, a slower pace and new technology. Newly announced tools like Zoom Whiteboard could also go a long way.

For true strategic insight, only expert advice will do. That’s why we sat down with Scaled Agile Senior UI/UX Designer Dan Olsavsky, who shared how to take a design critique to new heights in the digital world.

 

Scaled Agile Team

Dan Olsavsky
Senior UI/UX Designer • Scaled Agile, Inc.

 

What are the main topics you’re looking to cover during a design critique, and why are they important?

At Scaled Agile, we follow the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) which encourages us to take an iterative, customer-centric approach while practicing design thinking techniques. We work incrementally in a series of short cycles so that we can receive feedback from the customer faster. This ensures our products align perfectly with the customer needs and gives the business confidence when delivering our products to market. 

Following SAFe practices helps us set up our developers to be successful when implementing the design specifications. We include our developers early and often in the design thinking process and during our design critiques. This helps ensure that we’re delivering a feasible solution that can be deployed in small batch sizes. This synchronization creates predictability, which ultimately reduces our risk for making mistakes. Knowing our work is feasible, predictable and valuable helps keep everybody engaged. 
 

How do you ensure that feedback is given and received in a constructive spirit when some or all participants are remote?

At Scaled Agile, we use remote collaboration tools to create an inclusive space where feedback can be collected and reviewed by all participants. Virtually all of our files, assets, requirements, brand guides and prototypes are stored online and are open to all for comments, discussions and improvements. In addition, we separate online communication channels by teams, products, shared services and events. We also allow team members to opt-in to whichever feed is appropriate. This makes it easy to follow what is happening around the company.

Giving and receiving feedback in a constructive spirit is achieved by fostering a mentality of learning, improving and promoting a culture of innovation. It is also achieved through trust and transparency. At Scaled Agile, we set expectations upfront by creating team agreements together. We allow for space to reflect on what we think is important and come to a mutual and sustainable standard of practice. By following the values and principles of SAFe, our work environment is fun and motivating. Teams and individuals feel empowered to make the critical decisions needed to improve our products.

 

By working in short cadences, we can measure results faster and pivot our product design decisions accordingly.

 

What is the general tone of your design critiques, and how do leaders set that tone at the outset?

The general tone of my design critiques at Scaled Agile is enthusiastic and encouraging.  Through adopting SAFe Lean-Agile principles and core values, we’ve created an environment where all feedback is welcome and considered. We are encouraged and empowered to explore and implement creative ideas without the fear of failing. By working in short cadences, we can measure results faster and pivot our product design decisions accordingly.

The leadership at Scaled Agile helps set this tone at the outset by supporting individuals and teams on their journey to reach their highest potential and by promoting a continuous learning culture. We trust the brilliance of our teammates and are genuinely curious about what they will create. The values of SAFe pull out the best from people! 

 

Scaled Agile, Inc. is the provider of SAFe®, a popular framework of organizational and workflow patterns for implementing agile practices at an enterprise scale.

 

Jobs at Scaled Agile, Inc.

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