ABSTRACT
The success of any design studio depends upon people's ability to generate and evaluate sketches. This chapter provides a step-by-step approach to help you with evaluating sketches. Once participants come together to evaluate sketches, participants will hang, group, move, re-group, review, rank, vote, and take pictures of the sketches by using supplies. Group evaluation does not have to be groupthink. The primary purpose of the evaluation is to have a realistic appraisal of alternatives. The guidelines to be followed by the participants to effectively evaluate concepts: review and preview; ask participants about struggle points; showing each sketch; asking clarifying questions; grouping the sketches; evaluate each sketch positively; evaluate critically; determine common themes. The simple act of changing the evaluation method to a 1-2-1 critique helps participants to re-focus. The evaluation method helps to soften any negative comments that might be viewed as criticism, by putting critical comments between two positive ones.
