97 Things Every UX Practitioner Should Know

Chapter 31. Remember the Four Questions of Critique

Adam Connor

Critiques are a form of analysis. They provide participants with an understanding of how and why a solution might or might not meet its objectives. To accomplish this, critiques should do all of the following:

• Identify a specific aspect of the idea or decision under analysis.

• Relate that aspect to an objective or a best practice.

• Describe how and why the aspect supports or does not support the objective or best practice.

Four questions help ensure we include these details when giving or receiving critique.

1. What are the objectives for the solution? To analyze a solution, we need to understand the objectives it is intended to achieve and focus our examination in those contexts. Objectives include:

   • The audiences the solution serves (their behaviors, perspectives, needs, and so on).

   • The problems or opportunities the solution should address and the contexts in which they occur (when, where, and why).

   • The business and user goals or outcomes we want to achieve by addressing the problem or opportunity.

   • The beliefs, perspectives, and principles we want the solution to adhere to (What are the characteristics and qualities of the solution itself?). These can be principles the team has set as well as the best practices and tenets for design in solution space.

     In a critique, it’s important to be explicit about which objectives ...