From critical friendship to design critique friendship: Disclosing the mechanisms of informal design critique within a design studio course

This study investigates informal peer-critique, mainly focusing on the mechanisms of the process and the varying platforms that design students utilize. It aims at providing a preliminary understanding of the peer-critiquing process by highlighting various aspects during its execution. To achieve this, an empirical study was conducted that consisted of two stages: observing the design studio classes and jury reviews of third-year design students, and carrying out semi-structured interviews with students who were volunteers to share their peer-critiquing experiences. The empirical data was analyzed by addressing two types of informal peer-critique: instant peer-critique and planned peer-critique. The analysis is framed by focusing on three important aspects: design phases in which informal peer-critique occurs, basic steps of informal peer-critique, and peers’ activities during informal peer-critiquing processes. By presenting the data by referring to these points, an introductory description of the informal peer-critiquing process is offered.