Visual Critiquing in Domain Oriented Design Environments: Showing the Right Thing at the Right Place

Traditionally critiquing messages in Domain Oriented Design Environments are presented as text in a window to which all critics send their message. In this paper alternative methods for presenting critiquing messages in a direct manipulation style will be discussed. Critics which change the shape of the cursor, indicate relations of objects, change the visible properties of the objects, modify the contents of the evaluation window and the agenda, and let users manipulate their designs from alternative perspectives will be presented in the context of the PetriNED design environment. It will be argued that the challenge for critics using direct manipulation style critique delivery is not –as for critics following the traditional way of presenting messages– to “say the right thing at the right time” but to “show the right thing at the right place”, and that the latter challenge is not as big as the former and allows for a much better support of design tasks.