When I started this program I was REALLY bad at critiquing… anything. I’ve always struggled to say why I liked a certain film, product, etc. I remember sitting and listening to other people critique projects in IDP and thought most of it sounded like complete b.s. but at least they could do that. Now that I am in my final semester, I’m glad that I’m finally learning some frameworks for critique. The “4 ways in” are definitely helpful to me as a designer – so I can design well, but also so I can give an effective critique. I look forward to using this “technique” and would even suggest that maybe it’s something that is introduced in the first year of the program.
Interaction Culture: The Class Blog
Official Class Blog of "I590: Interaction Culture" (Indiana University School of Informatics)
6 comments
Comments feed for this article
January 24, 2013 at 10:07 pm
slouraine
I was the same way! Particularly with art. I always thought analyzing art and literature was a complete waste of time, because I was pretty convinced people just did things because they liked it. But I’m starting to realize that even if you “just like” doing something, you’re still influenced by social pressures, your own past, and many other factors.
Erik said something today in Experience Design that really resonated with me, and it reminds me of your post. We were analyzing Google Drive and Erik mentioned how he kept hearing people say, “I didn’t know about that!” with regards to some aspect of the software. And it’s true, when you go deep and analyze something, you look at it through a completely new lens (a designerly lens in this case) and perhaps start to better understand some of the previously incomprehensible decisions that were made.
However, that lens is completely different from the lens of the average user… so for someone just using Google Drive and not analyzing it or critiquing it, the strange choices they “didn’t know about” are probably just an annoying or bad experience.
January 25, 2013 at 9:26 am
meredithelzea
Barb. I was the exact same way. I still do struggle with critique (hence why I’m taking this class). I think it’d be interesting to incorporate it into IDP or any class the first years take. I also think opening this class to first years was a great decision because they have the opportunity to take this class with experience design. They’ll also be able to practice this during their second year. Ugh, you guys are lucky (not bitter, not bitter…). Granted we can practice it throughout our careers but it would have been nice to be familiar with this going through RDSC.
January 25, 2013 at 1:03 am
spoppesnp
I had a similar feeling. I always want to go into more detail about why something resonates with me whether it be in a good or a bad way but continually find myself at a loss for words. This framework of analysis makes so much sense for nearly anything creative. Now to start applying it, right?
January 25, 2013 at 11:10 am
schaplin22
I feel the same way as you all! I think I am still in the early stage of critiquing but it’s coming to me better than it used to. I think my hardest thing is getting to the point to find something to critique that is beyond the surface. A couple times I can get under the surface and find something deeper to critique but I never say what find because I’m still afraid of being wrong on critiquing someone’s work… I don’t know why, I think that is just how I am. Any tips or suggests on how to get your point across in the best way to someone when critiquing their work so they understand it and I don’t feel silly or weird about doing it?
January 25, 2013 at 3:22 pm
Katie O'Donnell
I think the best suggestion I have is just to keep trying and practicing critique. This class offers a “safe space” to do that. Also, having questions that you ask someone as part of a critique or you ask yourself as you critique is one way to think about things beyond a surface level.
January 25, 2013 at 5:05 pm
mengyao
Totally agree with you! And previously I always said what “I feel” rather than an objective evaluation about a design. And actually every time when I did that I felt that was so unprofessional.