Dear Guest Critics: An open letter on design feedback

Dear Invited Guest Critics,

Thank you for agreeing to take time out of your busy workday to engage with some of the future designers of our world. We are grateful for your expertise and perspective on relevant landscape issues, and hope you will accept our meagre offerings of boxed Starbucks coffee and mediocre catered wraps as adequate thanks. UBC is on a budget, you see.

A few things before we begin the presentations. You are our guests, but we’re not here for you. And you’re not here for us - the instructors - either. You’re here for the students. They’ve spent countless hours preparing for this moment - their 15 minutes basking in the glory of qualified professionals - so let’s make it a worthwhile experience. See how they’ve all put on their nicest clothes, standing so respectfully, and putting everything in their hearts and mind out in the open? Take a moment to feel their anxiety, their fear of judgement and their eagerness to please you. Perhaps you too could sit up straight, stop yawning & stretching, and take some focused notes - including recalling their name as you speak to them.

Take a moment to read the brief and listen to our studio recap. Spend a few minutes re-reading the assignment and what was asked of the students, so that you don’t mistakenly tell them they should have done something outside the scope of the brief. Consider how you felt in your first studio with no background in design, having to work through complex issues while learning how to express yourself graphically. These students have sure taken on a lot!

Please don’t spend your 3-minutes-per-student name dropping designers & approaches that the first years won’t know. Please don’t spend your time talking about how exhausted and tired you are. Do not have side conversations with the other guest critics, or ask rhetorical questions that are hazily disapproving.

Maybe you have never learnt the art of active listening or providing effective feedback. For you, I’ll give some helpful hints.

Start with an effusive, positive comment, reflecting back the design intentions of the student as you heard it expressed. This sets the student at ease and places them in a mindset whereby they can relax slightly, knowing that they are safe and not about to be subject to an attack. Find something about the drawings, presentation, narrative or design intent that you can compliment. This is the students' best work; give them some credit for the efforts. Do you need a hint on how that could sound?

“Thank you so much for your clear, concise presentation. I can clearly read your design intentions through your statements and some of the diagrams/drawings/perspectives I see here. If I understood correctly, you were aiming to do x, y and z. Those are complex, worthwhile issues and I applaud your efforts in identifying these as a subject for design.”

Next, give the students specific, actionable feedback. This is not the time to be vague, indistinct, or meandering. Comments like “You could have explored construction” or “maybe you could think about systems” are neither specific nor actionable. The student is left wondering how exactly they should have ‘explored construction’ or ‘thought about systems’. What does that actually mean?

Even worse “did you think about climate change?” “Have you heard of Obscure Designer’s project in Some Place?” “Consider the work of Famous Person.” “Have you ever been to Expensive European City and seen This Particular Place? Well, one day you should visit.”

While you might believe you are giving helpful comments, what you are actually doing is showing your inner design snob to the student, who at early stages of course lacks the exposure to the vast quantity of design case studies that it has likely taken you decades to amass. These types of question-comments are not directly damaging, but leave the student with a lingering sense of inadequacy based on their lack of admittance into the Exclusive Design Travel Club.

To give that feedback meaning, consider reframing it: “there is a book called ‘x’ that contains construction details related to rammed earth walls, and this might help you detail your design and understand the material better. I recommend that you look at those details and try adapting them to your design.” or “There is a project in A Place by A Designer. In this project they use a very similar planting strategy to what you are proposing. If you have an opportunity to research it online, I bet you could find a solution to your specific issue.”

Now the student has something they can do and learn from! There is no underlying condemnation of their efforts or approach; you are simply offering them more information about a topic you are mutually interested in.

Another no-no is suggesting that a student should have taken on much more than the brief asked of them, or suggesting that they should not have done something that was required. This shows a distinct lack of preparation on your part since you did not take the time to understand the studio brief, and is completely fruitless critique that cultivates a sense of inner-failure in the student. The student is presenting work that has been vetted and approved by the studio instructor. Your inability to understand the list of required deliverables simply reflects poorly on you and is an embarrassment to the instructors who invited you.

One of the least-helpful lines of critique is when a guest states that they are not convinced of a student’s proposed design. The students did not design this proposal to “convince you” or “sell you” a concept. This isn’t a pitch deck and you’re not a client. This is an exploration of design issues through formal design strategies. You are here to offer assistance that can help the student improve their design approach or better communicate their intentions graphically. It is incredibly unfortunate that some invited guests believe that they are the sole intended audience of a student’s work. It reveals an individual centering that is deeply undesirable within our design profession.

Consider to yourself before you give a critique: is what I’m about to say going to allow this student to advance this design in a specific way, and how exactly could it be achieved? If you don’t know the answer to that question, you may not have anything of value to add to the conversation, and should simply allow someone else to speak. Maybe you’ll think of something else after hearing what other’s have said. Don’t speak just to fill time.

Are you laboring under the impression that you are there to evaluate the students’ work? Dear guest, no! You haven’t seen these students every day for 4 months; we’d never leave it in your hands to understand the complex metamorphosis these students have been through, transitioning from unskilled (but ambitious) novices to the Creative Professionals you see before you! Goodness, no. It’s not your duty to evaluate or rate the students - simply guide, assist, and help them progress in their learning of our field.

Once you have given pointed feedback that contains relevant information to the project’s aims and limitations, you can finish your comments with another positive statement. This approach is known as the “positivity sandwich”. Research has shown that people are much more likely to accept difficult criticism when it is mixed with praise. Are you worried about over-praising someone for their effort? Don’t be. The students are at a delicate phase in their development and need all the confidence and approval they can get.

Learning to freely give heartfelt praise takes much more practice and emotional maturity than nitpicking over details or finding something to tear down. We are all well-enabled to fixate on what’s wrong; it takes a lot more effort to encourage and build up. Be the kind of guest that we want to invite back. These soggy wraps in the staff room aren’t going to eat themselves!

All the best,

Stephanie