As a team grows, the process of managing projects becomes more difficult. Without a good workflow or standardization tool, inconsistencies will arise in the product due to the personal vision of each one of the team members.
If this is not constantly reviewed, it certainly have an impact on the end user, generating confusion and mistrust. For this reason, large technology companies often create a Design System.
Using the largest and most well-known technological giant, Google, as a reference, we can notice that each and every one of its different products usually have the same appearance, such as: buttons, fonts, margins, icons, etc. This makes the project more manageable, avoiding having to go back again and again to design corrections and making it easier for any new developer who joins to have a standardized guide for each of the components that make up the product, thus facilitating their integration into the project.
Based on working with hundreds of clients around the world, we have seen a wide variety of problems arising from poor initial project planning, which generally precludes the creation of a Design System. This is why we have decided to share 5 steps to create an effective Design System that will have a direct impact on the ROI of your product.
Here's the simple truth: You can't innovate on products without first innovating the way you build them.
The Way We Build, Karri Saarinen, Lead Designer and Airbnb Design Creator.
Building the Design System
1 - Create your interface inventory
To quickly identify current inconsistencies, start by creating a inventory of everything in your product UI: color palette, text user interface styles and patterns. Inventory is the most powerful tool in selling the need for a design system.
- Review the interface and code and list all the colors and text styles you can find.
- Take screenshots of user interface patterns or copy patterns from your projects and put all the screenshots in one place.
- Categorize your patterns by their purpose (eg buttons, form fields, navigation, etc.).
- Mark any inconsistencies between the patterns and create a presentation for your team.
2 - Get the approval from the Team
When presenting the inconsistencies reflected in your interface inventory, emphasize the ROI of the design system.
Engineers respond well to source control, improved modularity, and increased autonomy. Business stakeholders respond well to faster time to market, higher product value, and Less wasted resources.
3 - Define your design principles
Before building your new system, create a set of general principles for a consistent experience. What universal values should designers take into account?
- Removing ambiguity allows people to see, understand and act with confidence.
- Streamline and optimize workflow, skillfully anticipate your team's needs to help them work better, more efficiently and faster.
- Create familiarity and strengthen intuition to apply the same solution to the same problem.
4 - Unify your visual design
Think about the most fundamental and repetitive patterns in your Interface. Colors, text styles, and icons probably come to mind first. Maybe also some interactive patterns (hover over clickable elements), border and visual properties, or maybe animations? Discuss with the team to decide which version of these items will be canon. Then document them as part of the system.
5 - Create your library of interactive components
Once you have the foundation well defined, start adding your approved interface patterns to the shared library. Keep them up to date and encourage the team to use them on every future project, your efficiency and consistency will improve dramatically.
In Summary
In conclusion, building a Design System strengthens your product and shows the user confidence and consistency, a poorly made product could sink your business more than boost it, make sure you choose the best team that can help you define and build your product covering every aspect from the beginning to ensure its scalability and good positioning in the market.
Questions? Comments? Feel free to contact us. We know how to help you to succeed on your next project.
