Fresh Eyes

Wednesday, September 9. In pairs today, four different ones.

Why Today

It used to be that getting something to work took so long that once it did, you didn’t want to touch it. That’s over: a change costs you a sentence, and so does undoing it. Which makes feedback worth more than ever, because the slow part now is knowing which change to make.

So try things today, even ones you’ll throw away. And get someone else to look. A website exists for other people: whether it works for them and whether it looks right to them both matter, and you can’t see your own site the way a stranger does. Your partner can. That’s what they’re for.

Nobody is grading the site. Every site in the room is a week old, most people are doing this for the first time, and the person looking at yours is about to hand you theirs.

Before You Pair

You’ll show your site on your own laptop, your partner looking over your shoulder, so nothing has to be online today. But you should see a change within seconds without putting it online first: a local preview, what a developer calls a local development setup. If every change means redeploying, ask your agent before you pair:

Can you set things up so I see changes to my site on my own laptop right away, without deploying?

It knows how, and it takes a minute.

Pair Up

Open the pair page. It shows you a code. Give it to your partner, or type theirs; whoever’s code was used builds first. Three is fine; so is pairing with me. Your code stays the same all class; find it once. If you come in late, pair with whoever’s waiting.

If You’re Critiquing

Look before you speak, the way someone who’d never met your partner would. What did you look at first? Who is this for? Could you find what you wanted? Then say what you see, out loud. The three shapes from last time still work:

• I notice: what you saw. “I notice the heading is hard to read on your phone.”
• I wonder: a question. “I wonder who this is for.”
• What if: one thing to try. “What if the projects came first?”

Specific beats kind: “it’s nice” gives them nothing to do. Specific and positive counts too: “I knew what you studied before I scrolled” tells them what not to break. You don’t have to find something wrong, and eight minutes is one or two things, not a list. Write down the ones worth keeping; they go to your partner after class, not during.

There’s a companion on your page that can see your partner’s conversation with their agent. Use it to check what they actually asked for, or when you can’t put words to what you saw. It won’t write your feedback for you; the words your partner hears should be yours. Prefer the partner.

If You’re Building

You have eight minutes, so try it now. Not everything you’re told will be right; try it anyway, look, and keep it or throw it away. It’s your site and your call, which is exactly why you can afford to hear all of it. If you catch yourself explaining why it’s already that way, try it first and argue after. Tell the agent what your partner saw, not what you concluded from it: “my partner couldn’t tell what I study,” not “add a bio section.” When it says it’s done, look, then ask your partner if that’s what they meant.

Your page has a companion too. It keeps the list of what you were told, so at the end you know what you heard. Talk to it while the agent works, not before you try something. It won’t build anything.

Switching and New Partners

Your page shows what we’re doing and roughly how long it has. When I loop a round, everyone switches at once: the line under your names flips from building to critiquing. You can also switch sooner between yourselves. In a three, one of you sits out the building half of a round. When I move on, everyone goes back to their own code and finds someone new. The page reminds you who you’ve worked with, and asks you to be sure about a code you’ve been with before. Four partners if the clock holds; the last round may only go one way.

The Last Few Minutes

I close the session, and the notes about you appear on your pair page, from all four partners. Then, every session from now on: tell the course how it went, a short conversation rather than a form. It isn’t anonymous, and the page says so before you start.

If you’d rather see it than read it, there’s a walkthrough: the whole activity recorded end to end, both students’ screens and mine side by side.

Your partner can see your conversation with the agent from when you pair until the session ends; the pair page says so, and either of you can leave. Nothing is handed in.