Let's be honest… critiques between creatives and clients are not easy. No matter how experienced the designer is, or how detailed the brief is, edits in the review stage are a necessary step in bringing designs from good to great. But how those reviews are done is often a messy and confusing process.

Fortunately, through my experience as an icon designer, I've developed a system that makes this review process much easier! You can have straightforward, asynchronous and simultaneous collaboration, where everyone knows exactly what to do at any given time. Introducing the Review Timeline! While this design system was created with icons in mind, I believe that it can be an effective method for all kinds of design.

The Review Timeline is a phased system that uses stages with columns to make it clear to both the designer and the client what actions need to take place. It's sort of like Trello, Asana, or any other organization board, but instead of moving tasks, we move the actual designs themselves through the reviewal process. It also breaks up the design steps based on what feedback is required at that moment. I've effectively used this review method working with Sonos, Strava, and Peerspace, as well as freelance clients. It might look intimidating at first, but I guarantee you that using this system, your design reviews will go more smoothly and more effectively than ever!

The 3 Stages

The Review Timeline is divided into 3 main stages, with approvals moving from one stage to the next. These 3 stages are the ✏️ Conceptual Review stage, the 🖌️ Executional Review stage, and the ⚙️ System Refinement Review stage. Within each stage are separate columns that indicate the status of the design, and whose action is required.

✏️ Conceptual Review

The 1st stage is the ✏️ Conceptual Review, where we ensure the visual metaphor clearly communicates the right idea. Think of this as the "sketching" stage. Most designs start in this stage to validate that the design functions as expected, or that the general visual metaphor is clear. Here, the main goal is to figure out which variant best answers “yes” to these three questions:

1. Does the design clearly communicate the intended meaning?

2. Does the intended meaning read quickly?

3. Is this metaphor the best option available to communicate the icon’s intended meaning?

🖌️ Executional Review

The 2nd stage is the 🖌️ Executional Review, where I test different methods conveying the same concept, adjusting details like the corner radius, scale, positioning, composition, shapes, and basically anything about the design that needs an adjustment. This is the stage where it's encouraged on the client side to be really nit-picky. In this stage, I want the client to scrutinize the designs, since this is the stage where I will be nailing down the patterns that carry through the entire library. Together with the client, we'll select the variant that best answers “yes” to these questions:

1. Does the sizing of this icon variant seem proportional to other icons in the library?

2. Does the composition of the icon feel pleasant to look at?

3. Does the icon convey the right amount of detail?

⚙️ System Refinement

The 3rd and final stage is the ⚙️ System Refinement stage, where I collect all the designs that have passed through both of the previous stages, and apply refinements that carry through the entire library. The only involvement that on the part of the client is to take a final pass before I move onto the next phase of the design process, like designing additional sizes or exporting. But before that, it's the designer's responsibility to make sure the final designs answer "yes" to these questions:

1. Are all icons positioned within the keylines and optimized for optical alignment?

2. Do all other aspects of the library feel cohesive?

3. Do any outliers in the library have a justifiable reason for being different?

Once all designs have passed through these 3 stages, then they are ready to be extended into other sizes or variants… or otherwise ready for the final export stage. But understanding these 3 stages is just the beginning, let's dive a little deeper.

The Timeline Columns

In the first two stages, ✏️ Conceptual Review and 🖌️ Executional Review, the discussions between the client and the designer are very hands on. In these stages, all design and discussions are distributed between 4 different columns: 🚧 WIP, 🔎 Ready for Review, 👍 Like, and 💚 Love. Let's break these down a little further.

🚧 WIP

WIP, or Work in Progress, is a dedicated space for the designer to develop new iterations, explore ideas, and resolve comments asked for the client in the Like column (more on that later). WIP is a safe area for the designer to try new things, select their favorite iterations, and then finally move them into the Ready for Review column. Clients should refrain from commenting on this column; if designs are still here, then it's an indicator that the designer isn't ready for your prying eyes and snooty comments.

🔎 Ready for Review

Ready for Review is a dedicated column for the clients to review. Depending on which stage this column is in, the client has different instructions for how to critique the designs—questioning the design's general viability if it's in the Conceptual Review stage, or scrutinizing the stylistic details if it's in the Executional Review stage. If the reviewer likes one design more than the others, but has some notes on how it could be improved, then they drag it into the yellow Like column. It's also very important that the client leaves a Figma comment explaining why it's in this column, so that the designer can efficiently execute the feedback. If the client thinks one design exceeds all the other variants and meets the criteria of that stage perfectly, then they drag it into the green Love column.

👍 Like, but needs improvement

Like (but needs improvement) is the yellow column that indicates to the designer that some updates are necessary. Any designs that are in this column are the designers' responsibility. If it's very minor, the designer can make a quick edit and bring it back into Ready for Review. But if the requests are more extensive, the designer should bring it back to the WIP so as not to clutter the timeline, then bring it back into Ready for Review when it's ready.

💚 Love! Approved as-is

Love is the green column, and shows that the design is approved! Any items that are in this column are ready for the designer to transfer to the next stage, whether it's into Executional Review or System Refinement.

System Refinement

Once the designs have successfully passed through the 4 columns of the ✏️ Conceptual Review stage, and the 4 columns of the 🖌️ Executional Review stage, we arrive at ⚙️ System Refinement. Unlike the previous two stages, System Refinement only consists of 2 columns, which are essentially "before" and "after": the ⏰ Pending Refinement column, and the 🔎 Final Review column.

⏰ Pending Refinement

Designs that arrive in this column are essentially in "stasis" until the mass majority of the other remaining approvals are complete. When at least around 90% of the concepts have been approved and are in this column, then comes the tarrying work of inspecting the icons with a fine-tooth comb, if you catch my meaning. Here, we want to make sure that all of our concepts are following the rules that have been established, and many of these adjustments may not even cross the mind of the client.

This is the essential step where designers need to roll up their sleeves and prove their expertise to the client. Designers should take this opportunity to triple-check easily-missed details like spacing, optical alignment, frame naming, alignment to keylines, consistent corner radius, etc. This is the best time in the process to finalize your designs. After this, your designs will either be the benchmark for future designs, or they will be transported out of your hands, so take this step seriously! Designer-initiated refinements here will prevent future fixes when things are much more complicated.

🔎 Final Review

It's important that this column is paired with a due date, since to the untrained eye, these designs probably don't look very different from the requestor's previous review. The responsibility in this column shifts back to the client to take a last look at the designs before they're off to the races—though I must admit, it's unlikely that the client will have many comments here. The designer should resolve any comments promptly. At the due date, mark the whole section as approved, and move out of the review stage!

Why is this better?

What does this system do that normal, crazy, cluttered design flows don't do? Well, there are many reasons why this method is a significant improvement.

• The 3 stage process makes it clear to the client what feedback is expected. Gone are the days when a client nit-picks on the curve of a line, when the very concept of the design has to be scrapped.

• Designer level of effort is divided between the stages, saving time and energy, and thus cost. It is understood by both the designer and client that ✏️ Conceptual Review is unrefined, and is almost guaranteed to change. It establishes better trust between the two parties.

• All reviews are asynchronous, removing the necessity for meetings. No longer is it required to schedule long-winded critiques. Instead, at any given time, everyone easily knows exactly what needs their attention.

• All Figma comments are actionable. Many times, Figma comments simply say "approved", which just clutters the workspace. With this method, Figma comments are reserved only when the client has a specific request from the designer.

• Progress is clear to see. Just by zooming out and judging how far along the concepts have moved through the timeline, you can accurately estimate how much has been done, and also just as easily surmise how long the final concepts should take.

• All progress is saved. Any previous iterations are to the left of the latest concept, and can be quickly referenced if necessary.

What are potential pitfalls?

There are a few areas in which things can get a bit messy, so it's important to set some ground rules to guarantee this system's effectiveness. Here are some potential pitfalls that could be encountered using this method, and solutions for how to mitigate them.

• Pitfall: The client is stressed by the proposal of this new review method and is resistant to adopting it.

• Solution: Simplify the client experience by only presenting them 1 stage at a time, and do all 🚧 WIP on a separate page or file. Once you have icons ready to move onto the next stage, only then add the additional stage to the document.

• Pitfall: Many approvers are working on the same designs, all of which have edit access to move things. Over time, the file gets messy and the designer doesn't know what's actionable.

• Solution: Establish one key representative on the client side to be responsible for moving designs between columns, and instruct that representative sort through feedback. Other approvers should comment in the 🔎 Ready for Review column, declaring their preferences and feedback, but only the client representative should make the final decision how the design moves— whether into 👍 Like or 💚 Love columns.

• Pitfall: The client doesn't have a scheduled meeting to review the designs or finds the timeline intimidating, so the designer ends up waiting around.

• Solution: Attach due dates for when the 🔎 Ready for Review sections need to be empty. It adds urgency to the client, while also clearly communicating how they need to proceed, how much they have left, and leaves them satisfied when it's done. Note: When taking this approach, leave updated designs in the yellow 👍 Like column with an @ mentioned Figma comment so that your client doesn't feel like they are swimming upstream in the 🔎 Ready for Review column.
  
  

• Pitfall: Corporate leaders may also need to approve some high-impact designs, and this timeline is intimidating at first glance.

• Solution: Create a new column between 👍 Like and 💚 Love called 💼 Leadership Review, and put any concepts that need high-level approval there. Then, instruct leadership to only pay attention to content inside that column, and leave comments to approve / request changes.

Adapting for Other Fields of Design

I fully recognize that as an iconographer, my field of design is very specialized and unique. But I believe that the Review Timeline is effective for all other fields of design as well! Feel free to adjust the stages or columns to your preference. The essence of the timeline is that progress moves from left to right, client / designer discussions are contained within each stage, and the transition of a design to a new stage signifies another level of investment in a particular path.

For product designers, use the Review Timeline with these stages instead: 🔳 Wireframe Review, 🟧 UI Design Review, 🟦 Prototype Review, and ✅ Ready for Dev. In this structure, each new stage represents a deeper level of design investment— but using this structure asynchronously prevents unnecessary meetings.

For illustrators, animators, or 3D artists, the Review Timeline is mostly the same, but with these names for the stages: ✏️ Sketch Review, 🖌️ Render Review, ➡️ Export Review.

Regardless of what field of design you are in, the Review Timeline can be modified to suit your industry's needs and your unique workflow.

Conclusion

The Review Timeline as a reviewal system can streamline your review process by clearly defining actionable items. If you find this system helpful, please like this post so that it can reach more designers! If you have a suggestion on how to improve it, leave a comment and share your thoughts. I'd love to see how designers are using this system in their own workflows, or how you've adjusted it to better suit your needs.

Want to try out the Review Timeline? Download the template here! This is a Figma community file I've created that can be easily adapted for your project.