How Do You Ensure Consistency in Product Design as a U3 Designer?
Navigating the complexities of product design demands a steady hand and an eye for consistency. This article distills the wisdom of seasoned U3 designers, offering strategies and systems to maintain design cohesion. From establishing robust Design Ops to adhering to proven systems, gain expert insights to master the art of consistent U3 design.
- Establish a Design Ops Strategy
- Create a Strong Design System
- Adhere to Design Systems
Establish a Design Ops Strategy
Hi! I am a UX/UI designer that helps small, medium, and large companies with their digital products. And my years of UX design experience come into play with almost every client that I work with! Here are the answers to your question:
While working for a large electricity provider, I was part of a team with two designers responsible for maintaining consistency across a large website, multiple interactive maps, and a mobile app for both Android and iPhone. To tackle this challenge, the first thing we did was establish a design ops strategy to standardize how we worked at a high level.
One of the most crucial aspects of this strategy was leveraging Figma's design system functionality, such as design tokens and components. By creating and maintaining a centralized design system, we ensured that every element—from colors to buttons and layouts—was consistent across all platforms. This approach allowed us to make updates efficiently, with changes cascading across all platforms automatically, saving time and maintaining visual and functional coherence.
If you have any follow-up questions, feel free to email me at marcus@publish.ninja.
Create a Strong Design System
I address platform consistency by creating a strong design system that serves as our visual and interaction framework. This isn't just a static document; it's a live framework that adapts to our product's needs.
For example, when building financial tracking software for both mobile and online, I developed a core set of interaction patterns that work effortlessly. This entailed creating consistent color palettes, typographic hierarchies, and interaction concepts that felt natural whether on a smartphone or a desktop.
Working together continuously creates true magic. I work closely with developers and product managers to ensure that our design approach is both practical and adaptive. By viewing our design principles as a collaborative tool rather than a rigid mandate, we maintain flexibility while preserving the core user experience integrity across all contact points.
Adhere to Design Systems
Ensuring Consistency in Product Design Across Platforms
Consistency in product design across platforms is essential for delivering a seamless user experience. UX designers achieve this by creating and adhering to design systems that include reusable components, patterns, typography, colors, and design guidelines. A well-defined design system ensures that all team members work within the same framework, reducing inconsistencies when designing for different platforms like web, iOS, and Android. For example, using tools like Figma or Sketch allows designers to create shared libraries for components, ensuring design elements such as buttons, navigation bars, and icons look and behave similarly across platforms.
Another key approach is maintaining platform-specific standards while preserving brand identity. Each platform, whether it's web, mobile, or desktop, has its own design conventions (e.g., Material Design for Android or Human Interface Guidelines for iOS). Designers adapt their product to these standards while maintaining the same core user experience and visual style. For instance, a product's navigation system may look slightly different on iOS (with tab bars) compared to Android (with bottom navigation), but the placement, hierarchy, and interaction patterns remain intuitive and recognizable across both platforms.
Lastly, user testing and collaboration play a critical role in ensuring consistency. Designers collaborate closely with developers and product managers to align functionality and design. Regular usability tests on different platforms help identify any deviations in user experience. For example, if a search bar on a mobile app behaves differently than on the web version, user feedback helps refine the interaction. By combining structured design systems, platform-specific guidelines, and iterative testing, UX designers ensure that users experience a cohesive and unified product, regardless of the platform they use.
