01. Design Critique is not personal

When Apple announced the latest iOS in 2025 and we saw the Glass effect, much of the design conversation focused on how Apple had fallen behind in the design race. Designers published think pieces about the Glass effect and recreated it in Figma and Framer. There was plenty to say about whether people liked it, but less about why it worked or failed. A useful design critique should ask what a design is trying to achieve, who it serves, and whether its decisions support that goal. Saying “I don't like it” tells us about your preference, which you are entitled to have, but it does not tell us much about the design.

The same pattern appears when a major brand redesign is released. Take Instagram’s identity redesign by Koto. A designer can decide that the typography feels wrong, but that opinion becomes useful when it is supported by an argument. What was Instagram trying to communicate? What changed in its brand strategy? Does the new identity support the scale of the platform? The same questions apply to the Kuda redesign. The important question is not whether you prefer the old identity. It is whether the new identity gives Kuda a stronger position and whether the design supports it.

Redesigns are often judged as though a designer's job is to make something everyone finds attractive. It isn't. A design can challenge your taste and still be strategically sound. It can also look polished and fail to solve the problem it was created to address. Good design criticism requires context, research, and an understanding of the product. If you think a redesign is weak, explain where it fails. What is confusing? What is inconsistent? What has become less usable? What opportunity was missed? Most importantly, what would you change?

A few years later, Apple has continued refining the Glass effect across iOS. I cannot tell you whether any of the designers who criticised it were involved in improving it. What I can say is that Apple kept working on the problem. That is where design critique should lead. Not just to a verdict, but to a better understanding of the problem and a possible solution.

A strong design critique moves from reaction to reasoning. If you believe a design does not work, explain what is wrong, why it matters, and how you would make it better.