Secondary benefits of design reviews

Aside from their primary goal of improving a design by identifying potential problems, design reviews also have a number of important secondary benefits.

They are a highly effective way of conveying detailed technical information to other team members. Including engineers working on related or surrounding subsystems on the design review team not only gains their input, but also provides them with important information on how the other parts of the design to which they must interface with function. Often this leads to new insights on the “big picture” which may not have been apparent simply from the architecture and interface specifications, and helps overcome the “silo effect” that can occur when engineers operate in isolation to one another.

Reviews are an excellent opportunity for downstream engineers to collect input requirements.

Design reviews also present valuable opportunities for staff development. Presenting a design for review provides an engineer with a platform to develop presentation skills, opportunities to accept constructive criticism and valuable feedback, and to showcase their unique talents in the way they approach the task of design. When the design has been conducted by a junior engineer, the review provides the opportunity to present information to more senior engineers who can provide guidance, leadership and coaching by the manner in which they provide feedback during the review.

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