Summary
Developing a process that keeps designers connected to their work and their peers is especially challenging in distributed teams. See how we do it at MURAL, a design-first company, where we bring people together with collaborative intelligence to create a digital space that feels open and safe.
Key Insights
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Mural’s design review process is a continuous series of five distinct touchpoints rather than a single event, ensuring frequent, varied feedback.
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Design reviews emphasize work-in-progress sharing with minimal prep to encourage openness and timely feedback rather than polished deliverables.
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Trust within the team and viewing feedback as a gift are foundational to a healthy, safe design review culture.
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Asynchronous feedback via Loom videos and Mural templates allows distributed teams to collaborate effectively across time zones.
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Peer design pairings with senior or principal designers foster cross-pollination and mentorship in a distributed environment.
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Executive reviews are cross-functional, involve product, design, and engineering leadership, and focus on strategic feedback and approvals.
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Creative design teams benefit from dedicated rituals like weekly office hours and bi-monthly creative syncs to build connection and avoid silos remotely.
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Product design reviews are aligned with project milestones (0-30%, 30-60%, 60-90%) to provide relevant feedback at each stage.
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Smaller or solo design teams should focus on integrating design early in sprint planning and seek allies to champion their process internally.
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Collaboration spaces like Mural enable inclusive meetings by allowing all participants to contribute feedback visually, supporting both introverts and extroverts.
Notable Quotes
"Design review is simply the act or process of designers collaborating in an effort to increase quality and craft in the design team."
"Feedback is a gift and these reviews are where we break down silos and leverage broad skill sets across the team."
"Trust emerges through the intersection of sharing work, receiving feedback about the work, and trusting those around you to give that feedback."
"A great designer doesn’t have all the right answers, they have the right questions."
"We believe you don’t need to be in the same room to achieve something great; global diversity of thought makes our work better."
"Critique is a moment to connect to the room and build trust and feel the customer on the other end of the solution."
"If you’re at the beginning of the process it’s kind of more of a show and tell; further along it’s more of a review with critique."
"We build design reviews into our overall product process to account for them, so they don’t feel like time-consuming interruptions."
"We spend a lot of time educating partners like engineering about why design needs more than two weeks to create quality work."
"With larger groups, not everyone may speak but using Mural, everyone can contribute feedback visually and safely."
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