The Potential of Peer Reviews

By 25th August 2016Design Process

Often we are working on projects over weeks or months , in our own little bubble with colleagues and clients who are all in there with us. It is tough to look at concepts, interactions and designs with fresh eyes and getting perspective that way. That’s why we introduced regular peer reviews with colleagues from different disciplines who are not familiar to the project, bringing everything to the table and discussing specific issues or just getting overall feedback. Our peer reviews usually never last more then 30 min and require 1-3 peers. You go out with fresh ideas and confidence to be on the right path or support to change course. In busy times sometimes we might feel we just have to continue to work through it but often it is enormously valuable to just take 30min to reflect and question. Then continue with fresh insights and energised. The most important thing about a peer review though is that it is amongst friends , always respectful and completely open. To do as many as we can every week we have a little board up on the wall showing how many we have done and our weekly record. This is a great reminder and motivates to aim to break the record every week.

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