TIP OF THE MONTH: How to critique web design

June 24, 2010 | Posted by Carolyn Pikoulas
When it comes to knowing whether or not the design of a website is good, you must know how to critique it. If your judgment tells you that the design is good, it could be that the design follows established design principals. If it looks bad, it might be because it was designed by a web programmer, not a designer. Or it could be that your personal tastes are interfering with the overall goal of the website.

Many times, I have chosen one company over another simply because one website looked more professionally-designed than the other. It's not because I'm an eccentric designer. It's because as a consumer I look for a quality, well-established company to do business with, and a good website design can speak volumes.

Web design is a relatively young field in the advertising world (compared to decades of radio and TV broadcasting and nearly 600 years since the invention of the printing press). Because of its youth, web design is growing every day with people from all sorts of backgrounds, many of which have no formal training in design. The field is constantly evolving as we learn more and more about how consumers interact with the Internet.

Being able to critique a website the right way helps improve its design. A critique should always be free of opinion. It is based on design principals and the goals of the business. This doesn't mean that "opinions" have no place in "critiques." Rather, we must understand that the two are not synonymous. Critiques are about having a two-way conversation.

Snap judgments and gut reactions are related to style and visual design, yet they often hold little value in a critique because they are not properly articulated. The person giving the critique will reduce their initial reaction to words like "cool," "don't like," or "needs jazzed up," which does nothing to help the designer improve the design. These kinds of reactions are fine to note, but they need to be understood first, then articulated.

Here are several tips to develop your critiquing skills:

1. Recognize your initial reaction, but take time to understand it.
   If you can't communicate your reaction, stop there and keep it to yourself. You have visual expectations in mind - whether right or wrong - that may not be in line with what the designer believes the website should look like to your end users.
2. Verbalize your observations, and be willing to converse.
   Heedless comments, especially anonymous ones, are unhelpful for obvious reasons. You must be willing to discuss your observations about the design openly and without bias.
3. Be specific.
   The more specific you are in your feedback, the better. For example, you might say that the logo should be bigger. But what the designer wants to hear is that you feel like the logo isn't prominent enough. In which case, the designer can make a better decision such as creating more space around the logo to make it stand out, rather than simply "making it bigger."
4. Subjective criticism is permitted, as long as it's identified as such.
   Even when you fully understand the context and your audience, a design may still just not feel right. As long as you make it clear to the designer that you're not sure why you feel that way, the feedback is still worth sharing.
5. Don't forget content!
   While content doesn't often fall under the responsibility of the designer, it's still a big part of the design. Judge a design based on how well it organizes and presents the content in a way that's easy for the end user.
6. Learn the basics of design
   There are plenty of materials available to pick up some basic design knowledge. If nothing else, it will help you understand your designer's position and have a conversation about the quality of the design. (Graphic Design 101).