Four Things Learned from a Design Critique with Facebook
A few months ago, I shared my first case study for Nearspace, a workspace discovery app I mocked up for an introductory product design class, and was selected by members of Facebook’s design team to engage in a virtual critique session.
The session was very productive and thought-provoking — it challenged many of my design decisions as well as highlighted areas of my design process that required additional refining.
I wanted to share with the online community some reminders and lessons I took away upon reflecting on my experience.
Clearly define your problem and audience, then commit.
Having a clear cut definition of your problem and target audience is like having a solid foundation to build a house on. Without it, you risk designing a “shaky” or poorly defined product and set yourself up for going off course.
Often times it’s the most obvious things that we unintentionally undervalue. Thinking back to my early stages of ideation, I realize I was working with too broad of a problem statement. I knew I wanted to design an app that would help people find places to get work done, but I lacked a set idea on how I wanted to specifically execute that. As a result, each iteration of my design strayed further away from any one focus.
This leads me to the second part of this takeaway— commit.
Once you’ve decided on your focus, commit to it. This doesn’t mean, though, to be stubborn and ignore other possible paths your product can go down. Rather, commit to one specific idea and iterate on it instead of wavering between multiple ones. For example, the Facebook team frequently pointed out that my latest mock up “wasn’t really highlighting the problem”. I incorporated unnecessary features that did not add value to the solution for speed and efficiency, such as irrelevant filters and social capabilities, all because I did not take the time to pause and formally commit in one direction.
By trying to please every type of user I could think of, I failed to please the one user the product was intended for.
Formulate an information hierarchy. Reflect it in your design.
Just as equally important as having a clear definition of the problem, an information hierarchy is key in determining what information has priority over others. This concept was new to me. Before our critique session, I understood that certain pieces of information were more important than others, but never had I taken the time to formally construct an information hierarchy. As a result, my design suffered:
Geoff: …consider thinking through what information you’re surfacing… To me, it seems like distance and name are probably the two most important factors that I want to see in a list. Right now, the distance is actually the most reduced of all elements on the page… Think about all the things that you’re going to be considering and then, again, how they play into your information hierarchy.
With the selling point of my app being the ability to find a nearby workspace quickly, it made little sense for me to have the distance tucked into a corner in tiny font.
Another idea the team and I explored was minimizing the size of the pictures and to instead use that space more effectively by bringing forward information of higher priority. In doing so, there becomes a lesser need for a filtering system as the most commonly desired information would be shown in the front of the app as opposed to being hidden behind another screen change. This, in turn, significantly reduces friction and provides the average user with a smoother experience.
So remember, frequently refer back to your information hierarchy and understand that space is a valuable resource. Don’t waste it.
Product design before visual design.
This concept was not a new one to me, but one that was difficult for me to take to heart due in part to a recent experience.
When I was applying for summer internships last Fall, I noticed a number of companies looking for UX designers that seemed to really be looking for visual, UI, or graphic designers. Based on job descriptions and my interactions with employers, I began to get the impression that they were more concerned with my ability to “make things pretty” than they were with my ability to make things functional. As a result, I began to reconsider the distribution of importance between visual design and product design.
Fortunately, that was all clarified by the end of my critique with the team and my original understanding of good design was reaffirmed. Instead of critiquing my app’s visual design, a majority of our time was spent exploring how the product would be used and collaborating on changes to the product design that would compliment said use.
There was a lot of merit in shifting our focus towards product design. That’s not to say visual design is not important (it still very much is), but a pretty app alone does not translate to a successful product. Had we solely reviewed my mockup for its visual appeal, we would have missed the core of what makes a product successful — the user experience. Jasmine expressed this perfectly when she said:
“You can have the best looking app, but if it doesn’t work, no one is going to use it.”
Be careful not to fall into the trap of getting too caught up in visual design and remember that beautiful aesthetics alone will not compensate for a poor user experience.
Share your designs and ideas with others verbally.
The benefit of sharing your designs and ideas verbally is that it forces you to analyze your decisions on the spot. Doing so shouldn’t be a difficult task when you’ve spent enough time mapping out the reasoning behind your decisions. However, it’s when it does become difficult that areas requiring additional processing are revealed.
For instance, at the start of our critique session, the team asked me to provide context for my design. This included background on what problem I was trying to solve, who I was solving it for, and how my product would act as a solution. Simple right?
To my surprise, I could sense that my thoughts were scattered as I initially spoke. There were some ideas that I had difficulty expressing eloquently and some questions that I simply did not have a fleshed out answer to. However, as more questions were asked and I heard my own responses, things began to click. Questions I had no clear answer to in the beginning became obvious. I was able to reconcile pieces of information that appeared to be unrelated to form a greater understanding and ultimately fill in missing gaps that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.
Speaking out loud really does make all the difference. It brings forward your conscious and even subconscious thoughts that were stored in the back of your head and places them before for you, making it easier to organize. Things become unclouded, you begin making new connections, and you’re able to reorient yourself towards designing a better product.
Closing Thoughts
Facebook is doing something great here with these open design critiques. It’s not everyday that you see such a renowned group reaching out to the community so openly and honestly.
Having the opportunity to collaborate with some of the best designers in the industry has been an invaluable experience. I was able to gain insight into how critiques are carried out in a professional setting and have been able to transfer what I have learned into leading my own design critiques at my current internship. On top of that, it has helped me improve my design process and has overall made me into a significantly more aware designer.
To my understanding, Facebook plans to continue their open design critiques. Based on my positive experience, I would highly recommend anyone considering this to submit their designs, especially if they are someone just getting into product design as I was. I understand that doing so could be a daunting task, but believe me, it is well beyond worth it. These designers I have had the pleasure connecting with have been some of the most genuine and considerate individuals I have ever met. They want to help the design community, so let them!
I hope my honest reflection on my critique session with Facebook provided helpful advice and encourages everyone to continue sharing and learning from one another. I certainly still have a lot more to learn, but I look forward to using what I have gained from this experience as I move forward in my future growth and development as a designer.
