440: Don’t Call It a Design Critique

440: Don’t Call It a Design Critique

Author: Brian Lovin, Marshall Bock May 26, 2022 Duration: 28:47

This week, we talk about how to make design critiques more fun, and how to encourage teams to share their work-in-progress more often.

Supported by:

Play — Play is the first native iOS design tool built for creating mobile prototypes. They recently launched Play for iPad, giving designers more room to create pixel-perfect and native-first prototypes directly on their device. The app is intuitive, powerful, and damn fun to use. Level up your prototype game today with Play!

Get your full access invitation now.

Zeplin recently shipped Flows!

Flows are a fast/effortless way to create and outline user flows and journeys. Designers can use flows to connect screens in seconds and map complete user journeys, showing not just the happy path but all possible paths and behaviors.

The Sidebar:

The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to bonus content going forward! Sign up at patreon.com/designdetails.

Latest VIP Patrons:

  • Tzu-Ling Tseng
  • Antonia Sullivan
  • James Carthew
  • Sharada Krishnamurthy
  • Ari Curtis
  • Marius libman
  • Jaclyn Saik
  • Daniel Kling
  • Martin Wiesemborski
  • Noah Levin
  • Owen Andrews
  • Josh K
  • Parth Kapadia
  • Yang Cheng
  • Jessica Rae Vergara
  • Jordi Enric
  • Andy Staple
  • Andreas Förster
  • Deborah Johnson
  • Justine Win
  • Clarence
  • Yifan Peng
  • Mike Porterfield
  • Ioana Kardos
  • Hello Hill
  • Tomás L

Main Topic:

This week, we talk about how to make design critiques more fun, and how to encourage teams to share their work-in-progress more often.

Amie Chen asks on GitHub: I have a question: I'm part of a design team that has lots of talented designers and everyone is supportive, humble, and doing great work. But no one seems to want to sign up for weekly design critiques (but rather like sharing WIP in slack) and every time my manager encourages she would hear all kinds of excuses. Curious how does your team establish a recurring design critique sessions? Is it mandatory? Or does everyone just love to share? What's the process of signing up one?

Job Board:

We're curating the best product design roles from the world's most design-forward companies.

👉 Design Details Job Board

CALA — CALA is building a next-generation platform and supply chain to allow anyone, anywhere to build and scale their fashion brand. They’re hiring a product designer to help customers — from streetwear legends, to sports teams, to the biggest fashion players — bring their ideas to life.

Universe — Universe is hiring a Product Designer who is obsessed with the delightful possibilities of software and sees UI design as an artistic medium, not just a method of problem solving. Join a new kind of design studio and shape a product that represents a radically better internet.

Mercury — Mercury is hiring product designers! Mercury powers the banking stack for companies like Linear, Maven & Mighty. Join them to build beautiful software for founders. Learn about the remote-friendly team & roles at https://mercury.design — disclaimer: Mercury is a financial technology company that works with banks.

Current — Current is on a mission to help people create better financial outcomes for their lives, and they’re hiring a talented senior mobile product designer with great visual design and UX skills. You’ll be involved in the full product development cycle: from early research and product strategy, to design and developer hand-off.

Cool Things:

  • Brian shared Headless UI — unstyled, fully accessible UI components, designed to integrate beautifully with Tailwind CSS. They are magical and make developing websites so much easier.
    • Also shoutout to an alternative: Radix UI.
  • Marshall shared the Balmuda Toaster, a luxurious but oh-so-good toaster that gets you that perfect toast, every time. And it’s beautiful!

Design Details on the Web:


Every week, Brian Lovin and Marshall Bock settle in for a thoughtful, often meandering chat that pulls back the curtain on how things are made. Their Design Details podcast lives in the rich space where technology and the arts intersect, focusing less on polished case studies and more on the real, sometimes messy, work of design. You’ll hear them dissect the nuances of product decisions, debate the evolving culture of creative teams, and share personal stories from their own experiences in the industry. It feels less like a lecture and more like eavesdropping on a conversation between two deeply knowledgeable friends. The discussions regularly venture into the philosophical side of craft, examining why certain choices resonate and how design shapes our daily interactions with the world. For anyone curious about the thinking behind the pixels and interfaces, this show offers a consistent, grounded perspective. Tuning in provides a sense of community and a candid look at the process, making it a staple for designers and creators who appreciate substance over flash.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Design Details
Podcast Episodes
383: Invisible Design [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:10
This week, we talk about “invisible design” – those products and experiences that go unnoticed when present, but would be immediately noticed if absent. In The Sidebar, we react to the new Tesla Model S refresh.Latest VI…
382: Designing Phygital Experiences [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:59
This week, we talk about designing experiences that weave between meatspace and screens. In The Sidebar, Marshall gives a deep dive into using modifier keys to level up your Figma productivity.Latest VIP Patrons:SherriKe…
381: Scope Creep [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:24
This week, we dive into scope creep: how to deal with it, how to avoid it, and how to build its inevitability into our workflow. In The Sidebar, Marshall shares some Smart Office tips for working at home.Latest VIP Patro…
380: Designing WhatsApp ft. Priyanka Kodikal [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:55
This week, we catch up with Priyanka Kodikal, a design manager leading consumer design at WhatsApp. We talk all about her journey as a designer, and what it's like building WhatsApp. In The Sidebar, we answer a simple qu…
379: Shipping Personal Projects [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:35
This week, we talk through our playbook for shipping personal projects. In The Sidebar, we weigh the tradeoffs of building an online persona. Should designers thought lead?Latest VIP Patrons:Adrian CorscaddenMartin Marič…
378: 2020 Clipstravaganza! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:33
This week, we compiled all of our cold opens, stingers, and outtakes into a single 2020 Clipstravaganza! This is our final episode for 2020 – thank you everyone for listening and supporting us this year. We'll catch you…
377: Future-Proof Designer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:12
This week, we talk about the skills and tools that designers can learn to become future-proof. In The Sidebar, we share our impressions, tips, and best practices for using Figma Variants.Latest VIP Patrons:Jesper Andrell…
376: Shipping Quality UI [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:07
This week, we talk about tips and processes for shipping a high quality UI. In The Sidebar, we discuss the Silicon Valley trend of job hopping every few years.Latest VIP Patrons:Matt CrowleyYannickMegan LearnC. AndersonJ…
375: Reconsidering Consistency [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:56
This week, we talk about the tradeoffs and considerations of designing for consistency. In The Sidebar, we share tips and strategies for starting a podcast.Latest VIP Patrons:Ashish NegiAlyssa ZhangTiffany C YuAleksandra…
374: End of the Mac Era? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:01
This week, we discuss the future of designing on Macs. Are we moving to a PC-dominated future in the field? In The Sidebar we nit pick through the latest changes in Figma's Auto Layout v3.Latest VIP Patrons:Maxime Daraiz…