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Design critique agenda template (45 minutes)

Design critiques often devolve into unconstructive opinion because everyone talks at once and the designer feels attacked. This shape uses silent written notes first, so people think before speaking, then grounds discussion in concrete feedback. The quiet window is the whole point.

Topic Minutes Running total
Framing Designer presents the problem being solved, the constraints, and what feedback they are looking for. 5 5
Walkthrough Designer talks through the design, explaining the choices. No questions yet. Listen. 10 15
Silent notes Everyone writes observations, questions, suggestions in silence. No cross-talk—keeps focus and designer heard. 5 20
Discussion Read the notes aloud. Look for patterns. Talk through the hard parts together. 20 40
Decisions Designer says what they are taking away and what they are keeping as-is. 5 45

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Using BriefMe, create a 45-minute design critique for six people: a 5-minute framing opening, 10 minutes for walkthrough, 5 minutes of silent notes, 20 minutes for discussion, and a 5-minute decisions close.

Questions

How long should a design critique be?
Forty-five minutes for a single feature or screen. Add thirty minutes if you are reviewing a full flow or a high-stakes decision; longer crits need more breathing room for quieter voices to speak. Anything over ninety minutes exhausts the group and commentary gets repetitive. If the design is that complex, schedule a second session focused on a different aspect rather than trying to solve it all at once.
What is the point of the silent notes phase?
It keeps the critique from becoming a mob. People write feedback without filtering through social pressure, and the designer is not interrupted instead of being talked over. In a purely verbal round, senior voices dominate; silence lets the quieter person spot a real usability problem that no one said aloud, and gives the designer time to process rather than defend immediately.
Can we critique code the same way?
Yes, the shape translates to code review, architecture, API design, even process changes. The silent phase works on anything where people often defer to the most vocal person. For small PRs or urgent hotfixes, the time cost is not worth it; use this ritual for the design decisions that will compound over months.

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