Abstract

Dianna and Fred discussing design reviews and independent reviewers.

Key Points

Join Dianna and Fred as they discuss a question: “How important are independent reviewers to a design review, and what is their general purpose for the design review process?”

Topics include:

• responsibilities of being an independent reviewer and of the team preparing a reviewer
• the power of informal independent reviews
• ways to promote independent reviews for learning

Enjoy an episode of Speaking of Reliability. Where you can join friends as they discuss reliability topics. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from design for reliability techniques to field data analysis approaches.

SOR 772 Independent Design ReviewerDianna Deeney

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Show Notes

Facilitation, preparation, and mindset are all things that affect the quality of an independent design review. Look beyond adversaries and an approval checkbox to a learning opportunity.

An independent reviewer should be aware of the design details and design intent to be able to:

• discuss trade off decisions with the team
• ask naive questions that others may have ignored
• identify things that the team hadn’t thought about

All of which is to honestly bring meaningful insight and questions. This takes time, preparation, and a supportive culture.

Informal independent reviews between engineers are very useful for improving designs. These can be done through being curious, asking questions, and reinforcing engineering efforts. This shifts the perspective from a designer having to ‘graduate’ from a design review (where others are challenging their design) to a culture of team development.

Are you an independent reviewer by trade? Please let us know your stories! What would best help you do your job?

Related Topics

How to Change Design Reviews from Tedious to Awesome(Opens article in a new browser tab)