If a design presentation and critique is compared to a courtroom setting, then what roles do the design, designer, and design judges play?
Perhaps the design critique is a reverse trial. The design is ‘on trial’, but as something to be accepted rather than judged. The designer is the prosecutor, with the burden of evidence to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the design has merit, or even that it is the best possible answer to th design brief. The critic (boss, client, teacher) plays to roles of defense council, judge, and jury. While the designer tries to make their case, they look for holes, weaknesses, and alternative explanations. When the case of the prosecutor (the designer) stands up, the design is judged as ‘good’, or ‘acceptable’.
It might be fun to separate these three functions in an educational setting. The teacher can be judge (only making sure everybody follows the rules and plays fair), an external critic can be the defense lawyer (doing their best to point out weaknesses and poke holes in the designer’s work), and other students can be the jury (rendering their verdict after hearing all the evidence).