Google Ventures UX Designer Braden Kowitz gave a talk at Cascade's UX Night called Design Feedback & Presenting Ideas.
Here are some of my takeaways:
Discovery is what people need.
Testing is whether they can use it.
Analytics tell you what people are or are not clicking, user interviews tell you why.
Using ux as a science vs art gets rid of ego and subjective critique.
We need to be more of a science so companies don't fail.
Design Blindness: what you make may not make sense to others, you can't judge it properly.
Get feedback early so you don't end up "polishing a turd."
Deadlines help you learn.
Focus on the words. Content first, directs the design.
No more lorem ipsum.
Foster cultures of critique.
Learn how to give and get critique
Get your team to get in that culture.
Teach people how to critique.
Be candid.
Be specific.
Focus on goals.
Goal first.
Have them say things that are working in addition to what is not working.
Hippo: Highest Paid Person's Opinion
Pitching vs Critiquing
Set context and layout goals for the design and constraints.
Shape the conversations.
Align their heads to customer goals
Use metrics
Show a flow
"Yes, that doesn't work and I'm open to feedback" throws it back to the critiquer for suggestions.
For documenting critiques use red call out lines.
Make a screencast of why I made the decisions I did, what is happening, and why.
Interruptive method, at the end of every hour all the designers get up and give each other feedback.
Check out Google Ventures library for UX resources.