VCD Design Critique, Collaboration & Annotations.
ENRICHING THE DESIGN PROCESS.
Takeaways
Good to go
Collaboration, Critique & Annotations
Collaboration in Visual Communication Design brings together diverse perspectives, expertise, and creativity from clients, stakeholders, users, and design teams to create innovative and impactful solutions that address complex problems more effectively than working alone. A design critique provides structured feedback, where students present their work to receive constructive criticism. In contrast, annotations are written evaluations that document design decisions, progress, and reflections throughout each stage of the design process.
- Collaboration enhances every aspect of design
Working with others brings diverse perspectives that stimulate creativity, improve problem-solving, and ensure human-centred design outcomes. Designers collaborate with clients to understand goals, with design teams to share ideas and critique work, with stakeholders for feedback and approval, and with users through testing and interviews. - Design critique requires structure and preparation
Effective design critiques follow a clear process where students prepare presentations explaining their client, design problem, audience, purpose, constraints, and design decisions before presenting to small groups. The feedback should be constructive using methods like ‘2 Stars and a Wish’ to create a safe learning environment focused on growth. - Annotations must be more than descriptions
Strong annotations go beyond identifying what you see to explaining design decisions, connecting ideas to research insights, and evaluating progress against design criteria. - Each design process stage requires a different annotation focus
During the Discover phase, annotations document research findings and user insights; in the Define phase, they articulate problem statements and design criteria; in the Develop phase, they explain design choices and iterations; and in the Deliver phase, they evaluate final solutions against established criteria.
Working together and recording the journey
Collaboration and design critique are tools for enhancing the design process. As a designer, receiving ongoing feedback on your work is crucial, and developing skills in collaborating with others opens doors to fresh perspectives and valuable insights. Embracing the notion that ‘two heads are better than one’, collaboration allows for a diversity of ideas and a more comprehensive understanding of the design problem.
Annotating is also an essential part of working through the design process. By maintaining annotations, designers can effectively analyse what is and isn't working, identifying areas for improvement and potential solutions. This process of reflection and documentation helps track your progress and ensure that the design stays on the right trajectory. By valuing feedback and annotations, designers can refine their work, deliver more impactful solutions, and ultimately elevate the quality of their designs.
Collaboration
Why collaborate?
Diverse Perspectives
Collaboration allows designers to tap into different perspectives and expertise. By working with others, designers can gain insights from different backgrounds, experiences, and skill sets. This helps in generating a broader range of ideas, exploring multiple design possibilities, and challenging assumptions.
Enhanced Creativity
Collaboration stimulates creativity by fostering a collaborative environment where ideas can flow freely. Through brainstorming sessions and collaborative discussions, designers can bounce ideas off each other, build upon existing concepts, and explore innovative solutions that may not have been possible individually.
Problem-Solving
Collaborative design allows designers to tackle complex problems collectively. By bringing together diverse perspectives, designers can analyse problems from different angles, identify potential obstacles, and develop more comprehensive and effective solutions. Collaboration enables designers to use each other's strengths and expertise to address challenges more efficiently.
Quality Improvement
Collaboration facilitates continuous feedback and critique among designers. By sharing their work with others, designers can receive valuable input, identify areas for improvement, and refine their designs. Collaborative design reviews, critiques and discussions help raise the quality and standards of the design work.
Effective Communication
|Collaboration ensures effective communication throughout the design process. Designers can clarify requirements, discuss design decisions, and align their understanding with other stakeholders. Collaboration helps designers articulate their ideas, justify design choices, and ensure that everyone involved is on the same page.
Knowledge Sharing
Collaboration enables designers to share knowledge, techniques, and best practices. By collaborating, designers can learn from each other, explore new approaches, and stay updated on emerging design trends and technologies. This collective knowledge sharing helps in professional development and enhances the overall expertise of the design team.
Human-centred Design
Collaboration with stakeholders, developers, and users ensures that the design is human-centred. By involving users in the design process and collaborating with stakeholders, designers can gather insights, validate design decisions, and ensure that the final product meets user needs and expectations.
WhoM to collaborate with?
Clients
Designers collaborate closely with clients who commission the design project. They work together to understand the client's goals, objectives, and requirements. Designers seek feedback from clients, provide design options, and iterate based on client input.
Design Team
Designers often collaborate with their own design teams. They share ideas, critique each other's work, and work together to create cohesive and effective designs.
Stakeholders
Depending on the project, designers may collaborate with stakeholders and other decision-makers such as executives, project managers, or department heads. They gather feedback, present design proposals, and seek approval for design directions.
Users and target audience
Collaboration with users is increasingly recognized as an essential part of the design process. Designers engage with the target audience through user testing, usability studies, and feedback sessions. By involving users in the design process, designers gain valuable insights and ensure that the design meets user needs and expectations.
How to collaborate?
There are lots of different ways for student designers to collaborate. Design thinking strategies can be used with other designers or the target audience to gather valuable information during the design process.
- Surveys, user/audience interviews, focus groups and prototype testing are all ways in which designers collaborate with their audience.
- Convergent thinking strategies: Four field matrix, PMI, 2 stars and a wish, compass points, Six thinking hats, Jigsaw/experts,
- Divergent thinking strategies: Mind mapping/Brainstorming (Side page > convergent design thinking/divergent design thinking/human-centred design)
task
Show I know ...
1.1 Why collaborate
Read the section ‘Why Collaborate?’ above. Identify one reason for collaboration that you already knew and one different reason that enlarged your understanding of collaboration – one that expanded your view.
1.2 Whom to Collaborate with
Read the section ‘Whom to collaborate with?’ above. Note the four different groups of people. Explain what kind of information collaborating with each group would yield to the designer. Ensure your note at least one point of difference for each group.
1.3 How to collaborate?
Read the section ‘How to collaborate?’ above. Flick over to the Convergent Thinking Strategies page. Read through the routines on the page. Identify which of the routines might give the best opportunity to hear from others. Note why you made this selection and describe what might be gained for a designer by using this strategy.
Jump to
Design Critique
Design critiques are essential for fostering a constructive learning environment and helping students improve their design skills. The focus of the design critique should be on helping students learn and grow as designers. Through a structured and constructive critique process, students can receive valuable feedback, develop their design skills, and improve outcomes for their work. We will look at an outline of an effective way to carry out a design critique in the classroom.
Process for design critique
Set the Stage
Teachers should explain the purpose and importance of design critiques in the design process. They should:
- Let the students know what is expected of them and what they will gain from this experience.
- Establish a safe and respectful atmosphere where feedback is constructive and focused on improvement.
- Set clear guidelines for listening and ensure that feedback is helpful. They may choose a Convergent Thinking strategy such as 2 Stars and a Wish or PMI to frame the manner of giving feedback.
Create Presentation
Students should prepare written and visual materials to best present their ideas to a group. Depending on the size of the group of students and the formality of the presentation, this could be as simple as a mock-up or prototype with notes to be read to the group. Teachers decide on the manner and time limits for presentations that best suit their context.
To prepare for a design critique students could consider describing the following points;
- The client they are designing for
- The design problem or communication need they are solving
- The audience, users or stakeholders with interest in a design solution
- The purpose and context for their design
- The chief constraints or expectations influencing the formation of their design
- The design decisions the student has made in response to the points, above
Present ideas in context
Have students present the design idea or project to a small group or the class, highlighting its objectives, the target audience and any constraints or requirements. Students will also share relevant background information, design objectives or concepts that are relevant to the project and any questions they may have about their own ideas.
Review Design Work
Teachers give students time to present their design work to the class. Each student should have an opportunity to share their design and explain their thought process, explain their design choices and objectives. Encourage students to articulate specific questions or areas they would like feedback on, to guide the critique. It is best if the students have thought about where they want feedback in advance.
Facilitate Constructive Feedback
Teachers establish clear guidelines for giving feedback, emphasizing constructive criticism and maintaining a positive and supportive tone. Having a prop that can be held and passed around to signify the speaker is a useful group management tool.
Teachers encourage students to provide specific and actionable feedback. Avoid vague statements and encourage them to refer to design objectives or guidelines, user experiences, and project goals. One technique for giving feedback is to use the "sandwich" method: Start with positive feedback or strengths of the design, provide suggestions for improvement or areas of concern, and end with positive reinforcement or encouragement.
Encourage Dialogue and Discussion
Teachers should facilitate a discussion among the students after each design presentation. They encourage students to ask questions, seek clarification, and engage in a dialogue about the design choices and decisions made. Encourage students to provide feedback to each other, fostering a collaborative learning environment.
Foster Reflection and Iteration
Teachers encourage students to reflect on the feedback received and consider how they can improve their designs. They emphasise the iterative nature of the design process and the value of revisiting and refining designs based on feedback.
Summarise and Conclude
Teachers recap the key points discussed during the critique and highlight important takeaways. They express appreciation for students' efforts and their willingness to engage in the critique process. Teachers provide guidance on the next steps for students to iterate and improve their designs based on the feedback received. This can be included in their task as part of a critique reflection that summarises what they learned from the critique and how they plan to utilize the information.
task
Show I know ...
2.1 Design critique setup
In groups, pairs or individually, consider the outline of the Design Critique shown above. Imagine a class were going to create cardboard prototypes of a foldable chair. Using the information above to help, create a list to describe the set-up for a Design Critique that might give students clear and usable feedback to help them with their designs. In your list cover the following points;
- Best size of a group
- Time limit for presentations
- What should students prepare for their presentation?
- How should they best explain the context for their design?
- How should the members of the group give feedback?
- How should presenters record, process and action the feedback they have received?
2.2 Give a Design Critique
Using the steps in Design Critique shown above operate a Design Critique with your class. Don’t forget to record, process and action the feedback you receive.
Jump to
Annotions
Annotations are notes of what is important, how well you are progressing and for keeping you on track for the direction you are heading. Be sure that your annotations are evaluating your progress examining both strengths and weaknesses and that you are explaining the design decisions you are making along the way. It is crucial that annotations are done in real-time and references all content observing trademark, copyright and legal obligations.
Let’s look at what sort of annotations you will complete at the different stages of the design process. There is a model response below to assist you in writing higher-quality annotations.
What is an annotation?
Annotations are the written part of a VCD folio. Annotations are usually comments that are placed beside research images, design ideas, design concepts and design solutions. Students should intentionally respond to command terms when writing annotations. Action verbs include;
- identify
- describe
- discuss, document
- summarise
- explain
- elaborate
- link, connect, compare
- evaluate, justify
- reflect on learnings and understandings gained
- ‘Sign-post’ future or next steps in the Design Process
Lower-level annotations identify or describe research or design ideas. Higher-level annotations explain design decisions, link ideas with students’ research and insights gained and make connections between ideas in the folio and evaluate ideas against Design Criteria.
Model Response
Weak annotation
‘There is contrast’ - Contrast is just being identified.
Medium annotation
‘I used colour to create contrast’ - Contrast is identified and described as to how it was created.
Stronger annotation
‘I used colour to create contrast in the type, so that it reads first in the hierarchy over the image, and more easily identifies the business’ - Contrast here is identified, described how it was created and then analysed and explained how it was used effectively.
Annotations for each stage of the Design Process
Following are some strategies for writing annotations correctly at each stage of the Design Process. Use them as a checklist to ensure your annotations are serving the correct purpose.
Discover
In the Discover stage of the Double Diamond design process, annotations play a crucial role in capturing and documenting the research findings, insights, and initial explorations. These annotations help designers and stakeholders gain a deeper understanding of the problem space and inform the subsequent stages of the Design Process. Here are some areas to consider for annotations during the Discover stage:
- Research Findings: Annotations are used to document the findings from user research activities, such as interviews, surveys or observations. These annotations will summarise the key insights you have learnt from quotes, observations, and anything else discovered during the research phase.
- Target audience/user Personas: Annotations are used to describe and capture the characteristics, behaviours, needs, and goals of the target audience and users. Personas help create a shared understanding of the users and serve as a reference throughout the design process.
- Empathy Maps: Annotations are used to identify and describe the emotions, thoughts, and behaviours of the users. Empathy maps are used to help designers develop empathy for the users and gain insights into their needs, pain points, motivations, and aspirations. Headings that can be used in an Empathy Map include:
- Thinking and feeling
- Seeing
- Hearing
- Saying and doing
An example of an Empathy Map is shown below.
Define
In the Define stage of the Double Diamond design process, annotations focus on refining the problem statement, identifying user needs and insights, and establishing design objectives. These annotations help guide the design process by clearly defining the need and goals of the project. Here are some annotations that can be undertaken during the Define stage:
- Problem Statement: Annotations are used to refine and articulate the problem statement based on the insights gathered during the Discover stage. These annotations provide a clear and concise description of the problem to be solved, highlighting its significance and impact.
- User Needs: Annotations describe the user needs identified during the research phase. They summarize the pain points, desires, motivations, and goals of the target users, helping designers understand the specific challenges that need to be addressed.
- Design Objectives: Annotations discuss the high-level goals and design objectives for the project. These annotations describe the desired outcomes and impact the design should achieve, such as enhancing user experience, improving efficiency, or addressing specific audience needs.
- Design Criteria: Annotations explain the criteria that the design solutions should meet to be considered successful. These criteria may include usability, accessibility, aesthetics, different factors, or alignment with organizational goals and brand identity.
- Constraints and Limitations: Annotations describe any constraints, limitations, or boundaries that need to be considered during the design process.
- Design Research Synthesis: Annotations summarise and synthesise the key insights, patterns, and themes derived from the research findings. They help focus the research on meaningful and actionable design directions.
- Stakeholder Alignment: Annotations document the input, perspectives, and requirements of key stakeholders involved in the project. They ensure that the design objectives and criteria align with the expectations and goals of stakeholders, facilitating effective communication and collaboration.
DEvelop
In the Develop stage of the Double Diamond design process, annotations focus on developing and refining design concepts, creating prototypes, and testing ideas. These annotations help designers document their design decisions, iterations, and progress. Here are some suggestions on what to include in your annotations undertaken during the Develop stage:
- Sketches and idea generation: Annotations accompany sketches and idea generation, providing explanations and insights into the connections to research and how these ideas are addressing the needs of the brief.
- Design Concepts: Annotations describe and elaborate on the design concepts or ideas being developed. They provide an explanation of the design direction objectives, and how it addresses the defined problem and user needs.
- Describe Design Choices: Explain the reasons behind your design choices and decisions. Discuss the factors you considered, such as user needs, aesthetics, methods, media, materials, functionality, or project constraints. Elaborate on how your design choices align with the brief and/or target audience.
- Design Elements and Principles: Discuss relevant design elements and principles that influenced your design decisions. Explain how you applied these elements and principles and how they contribute to the success of your design. This demonstrates your understanding of design elements and principles and their application.
- Iterations and Refinements: Describe how your design evolved over time through iterations and refinements. Highlight key changes you made at different stages and explain the rationale behind them. Discuss how feedback or audience testing influenced your design improvements.
- Challenges and Solutions: Discuss and reflect on any challenges you encountered during the design process and explain how you overcame them. Describe alternative solutions you considered and the reasoning behind your final design choices. This demonstrates your problem-solving skills.
- Prototypes: Annotations for prototypes explain the intended functionality and any features. They highlight the purpose of what is being tested and evaluate what is working well as well as areas for improvement.
Deliver
In the Deliver stage of the Double Diamond design process, annotations focus on finalising the design, preparing it for implementation, and communicating the design solution to stakeholders and users. These annotations help ensure the smooth transition from design to production and effectively convey the design to address the brief. Here are some areas to include for your annotations undertaken during the Deliver stage:
- Presentation format: Annotations support the final design presentation format, explaining the key elements, features, and rationale behind the design solution presentation. They provide a comprehensive overview of the design, explaining how it addresses the brief and audience needs.
- Design Specifications: Annotations describe and explain the technical specifications, dimensions, measurements, or guidelines necessary for implementing the design. They ensure that the design is accurately translated into the final product.
- Media and Materials: Annotations explain decisions around media and material choices for the final presentation. They describe how the choices have resolved the communication of ideas and aesthetic qualities.
- Feedback and Iteration: Annotations may discuss any final iterations or refinements made based on feedback received during user testing or feedback reviews. They demonstrate the design's evolution and show how it has been improved through iteration.
- Design Evaluation: Annotations summarise the evaluation of the design solution against the Design Criteria. They provide an assessment of how well the design achieves its objectives.
task
Show I know ...
3.1 Practice annotations
Choose an example of Interactive Experience or Object design. Imagine you were the designer or the user. Write three annotations related to the design use respond to these three command terms:
- identify
- describe
- explain, connect, evaluate, compare