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Design reviews

Maintaining high standards with Design Reviews

Frequency: As needed throughout the development process

Goal: Ensure alignment, quality standards, and diligence throughout the product development lifecycle, from initial concept to final implementation.

Design Reviews are crucial for maintaining high standards, ensuring alignment with business goals and user needs, and promoting diligence throughout the product design process.

Types of Design Reviews

There are three main types of design reviews, each corresponding to a different stage of development:

1. Concept Review

When: Early discovery stages

Purpose: - Strengthen the team's understanding of the problem to be solved - Ensure alignment with broader initiatives and potential integration with other products - Verify that the initial design direction maps to business goals and user needs

What to Review - Design concepts (scenarios, storyboards) - Preliminary navigation models and maps - Market and problem definition - Task analysis - Competitive evaluation

Key Questions - How does this concept achieve the business goals? - How did research help shape this concept? - How does this product integrate with other products? - What are the guiding principles that will drive the rest of the UI design?

2. Prototype Reviews

When: Mid-stage development

Purpose - Review interaction behaviors - Confirm utilization of interaction standards, best practice, and design system components - Ensure proper fit to the brand(s) and consistency with related products

What to Review - Wireframes and prototypes - Navigation flows with entry points - Task analysis and/or scenarios

Key Questions - How is the UI design solving key problems? - What interaction standards or best practices have been employed? - How is the interaction design consistent with the overall product experience? - Does this design require new components or patterns?

3. In-app Reviews

When: Late-stage development

Purpose - Ensure designs meet quality standards - Protect against usability or brand risk - See the product as our customers do

What to Review - End to end flows in-app - Icons, graphics, logos, artwork, emails, and other visual assets

Key Questions - How confident are we that this design will improve the user experience? - What risks or constraints are we working with? What are we leaving out right now?

Review Process

  1. Schedule the Review: Set up the review at the appropriate development stage.
  2. Prepare Materials: Create a brief to share with reviewers, including the design, any relevant research, and any key questions.
  3. Conduct the Review: Present the design, discuss key questions, and gather feedback.
  4. Document Feedback: Record all comments, suggestions, and decisions.
  5. Approve, Revise, Stop: Determine if the design is approved as-is, needs revisions, or presents significant risks and needs to be revised before moving to the next stage.
  6. Follow Up: Implement approved changes and schedule any necessary follow-up reviews.

Roles and Responsibilities

  • Designer: Presents the design and explains rationale
  • Product Manager: Ensures alignment with product goals and user needs
  • Design Manager: Provides design oversight and guidance as a reviewer
  • Design System Representatives: Approves concept and UI design reviews
  • Optional Reviewers: May include Engineering and Product leads, UX researchers, and other stakeholders