The design read: output format and feedback rules

A review is only useful if the designer can act on it. The format below forces the two things most feedback misses: a priority order, and a fix with its reason attached to every issue. Deliver the read in this shape.

The format

## Design Read
**Asset:** [name or link if known]
**Audience / job:** [who it is for and the decision it must move]
**Verdict:** [Client-ready / Close, needs fixes / Not ready]

### What works
- [Specific strength tied to the argument, hierarchy, proof, or audience - not "looks clean"]

### Priority fixes
1. **[High/Medium/Low] [slide or element] - [the issue].** Fix: [the specific change]. Why: [the business or design reason].
2. ...

### Brand and data checks
- Palette / type / logo: [pass or fail, with specifics]
- Data integrity: [pass or fail - are metrics sourced, labelled, honestly charted]

### Stronger idea
[One concept that would materially improve the asset without reinventing it.]

Lead with the verdict so the reader knows the stakes before the detail. Name what works before the fixes: it is not padding, it tells the designer what to protect while they change the rest.

The feedback rules

• Name the exact element. "Slide 4, the metric row" beats "the numbers". A fix the designer has to locate is a fix that does not happen.
• Give the fix, not just the criticism. "Too busy" is not actionable. "Cut the three background shapes and the second chart; keep the one stat" is.
• Attach the commercial why. Every fix earns its place by helping the asset move the decision. "Lead with the completion-rate stat because that is the number this buyer is evaluated on" tells the designer why it matters and helps them make the next call themselves.
• Prioritize; do not dump. A ranked list of the five fixes that matter beats twenty equal-weight notes. Twenty notes with no order reads as noise, and the one fix that would save the asset drowns in it.
• Match the effort to the stakes. A LinkedIn graphic does not need the scrutiny of a client proposal. Say when an asset is good enough to ship rather than gold-plating it.
• If the asset is not accessible, say so before giving only general guidance. General advice dressed up as a specific review wastes the designer's time.

Calibrating the verdict

• Client-ready - you would send it as is. Any remaining notes are optional polish.
• Close, needs fixes - the argument and brand hold; a short, specific fix list gets it to ready.
• Not ready - a structural problem (wrong audience, broken hierarchy, unsourced data, wrong brand) has to be solved before polish is worth doing.

Do not soften a Not ready into a Close to be kind. A clear verdict early saves the designer from polishing an asset that needs restructuring.