Design critique culture: Creating space for feedback, clarity, and growth

Thoughts on feedback, trust, and raising the bar, together.

Design critiques are one of the most important rituals in any product design team.

They’re not just a time to show work. They’re a chance to shape it, together.

Done well, they build clarity, trust, confidence, and craft.
Done poorly, they become performative, discouraging, or just another meeting that drains time without adding value.

Over the years, I’ve iterated a lot on how I run critiques, trying different formats, tones, and frequencies to find the rhythm that actually helps people do their best work. What follows isn’t a perfect formula (there isn’t one), but it’s how I approach critique as a design leader, and why I think it matters so much.

The setup

I hold weekly team critiques, open to all product designers, researchers, and content designers, with additional smaller sessions baked into each squad or project stream.

Critique isn’t mandatory, but it’s embedded in the culture. Everyone understands that the goal is to make the work stronger, not to defend it.

We use Figma for most of it (obviously), but I encourage people to bring what they have, not just what’s polished. Early sketches, flow maps, problem statements, it’s all fair game. The point is to shape thinking, not just visuals.

The tone

Psychological safety isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a prerequisite.

So, a few ground rules I try to model and encourage:

• Ask before assuming

• Critique the work, not the person

• Be specific, not vague

• Feedback is a gift, not a command

And above all: the person presenting always gets the first and last word. I want them to own the conversation, not just absorb it.

Here are some quick pointers for those that sometimes don’t think about what they’re saying before they say it…

Instead of saying	Try saying
“I don’t get it.”	“What’s the main takeaway you want users to have here?”
“This isn’t working.”	“What challenge are you trying to solve with this approach?”
“It’s just not right.”	“Can we talk about how this ties back to the user need or goal?”
“This feels off.”	“Is there a reason you chose this direction over others?”
“That looks weird.”	“How are you thinking about the visual hierarchy here?”
“No one’s going to understand that.”	“What kind of feedback have you heard so far from users or testers?”
“I don’t like the layout.”	“How did you decide on this layout? Were there constraints or goals guiding it?”
“This doesn’t follow the system.”	“Do you see any opportunity to align this with our design patterns?”
“Why didn’t you do it like this?”	“Do you see any opportunity to align this with our design patterns?”

AND because great critique isn’t just about giving feedback well, it’s about handling the moment when someone pushes back. And that’s often where the real trust is built.

Here’s how you might respond if you're challenged after using a “Try saying…” critique phrase…

If they say...	Try saying...
"But this is the direction I really believe in. Why are we questioning it?"	"Totally fair, and I appreciate that conviction. I just want to make sure we’ve explored the alternatives clearly before we commit. It’s about stress-testing, not second-guessing."
"I did think about that already, but I didn’t go that route."	"That makes sense, would you be up for walking me through your decision process? It might help the rest of us understand the trade-offs you made."
"Do you think this isn’t good enough?"	"Not at all, this has strong thinking behind it. I’m just asking questions to help refine it even further. The goal’s not to criticise, it’s to push the work to its best version."
"This is already built. We can’t change it now."	"That’s totally valid, even if we can’t change it now, reflecting on this helps us improve future iterations. It’s less about redoing and more about learning together."

AND If they seem frustrated or defensive. Try saying…

"I’m here to support, not to challenge unnecessarily. You’ve done great work. I just want to help bring more clarity to the thinking and make sure we’re asking (and answering) all the right questions.”

Remember, critique is emotional. People put themselves into their work, and good leaders honour that without backing away from healthy friction. The key is to stay curious, respectful, and committed to the shared goal: better outcomes!

What makes it work?

What’s surprised me is how many people say our critiques are one of their favourite rituals. Not because we always get it right, but because they feel like real collaboration.

Some things that help:

• We start with context: What’s the problem? Who’s it for? Where are we in the process?

• We time box responses: This keeps energy high and gives everyone a voice.

• We use silence intentionally: People get a few minutes to review before jumping in.

• We sometimes ask for a specific kind of feedback:
  (e.g. “I’m struggling with hierarchy, what’s landing first for you?”)

• We say thank you… a lot! Gratitude builds momentum.

Why it matters

Critique isn’t about showing off. It’s not about consensus, either.
It’s about sharpening thinking. About getting closer to clarity.
And maybe more than anything, it’s about building a shared sense of quality, not in a perfectionist way, but in a “we care about this” way.

The best teams I’ve worked with are the ones who challenge each other respectfully and often. Critique, when done well, makes that possible. It creates a space where we’re allowed to be wrong, to explore, to push each other, not just to defend choices, but to make better ones.

Final thoughts

Design is collaborative by nature, but critique is where collaboration becomes intentional.

It’s where ideas get tested, refined, sometimes thrown out, and eventually made better than any one of us could have made alone.

If you’re building a design team, or just trying to raise the bar in the one you’re in, critique is one of the most powerful tools you have. Treat it with care. Protect it. Keep it human.

And if you ever want to compare notes or share what’s worked for your team, I’d love to hear it.

Thanks for reading.