Product Design Critique

A structured critique pass for a screen, flow, or component. The output is a prioritized list of changes a designer or engineer can act on, not adjectives. Critique is not redesign; recommend, do not rebuild.

When to use

• A designer or engineer asks for feedback on a screen, mock, or live UI.
• A feature is shipping and someone wants a final UX read.
• A flow is suspected of causing user drop-off and you want a pre-research read before instrumentation.

When not to use

• The user wants a redesign. That is a design project, not a critique.
• The work is so early that no concrete artifact exists. Sketch with them instead of critiquing air.
• You have no context on the user job. Ask for it first; design critique without user context devolves into taste.

Pre-critique context

Before opening a screen, get:

• Who is the user. Specific role and competence, not "users".
• What job they are doing on this screen. One sentence.
• What success looks like. What the user can do after this screen that they could not before.
• Where this screen sits in the larger flow. What precedes and follows.

If any of these is missing, ask. Critique without these is opinion.

The pass (in order)

1. Clarity of the user job.

   • Within 3 seconds of opening, is it obvious what this screen is for?
   • Does the primary action match the user's actual job, or a designer's preferred path?

2. Visual hierarchy.

   • The most important thing on the screen should be the most prominent (size, weight, position, color).
   • Secondary actions should look secondary. Tertiary should be findable but not loud.
   • Headings should chunk content into the right groups for the task.

3. Affordance and signifiers.

   • Clickable things look clickable.
   • Disabled things look disabled and explain why on hover/focus.
   • Drag, scroll, or swipe interactions are discoverable, not hidden.