Mobile Design System
A well-planned mobile design system can help you create consistent experiences across multiple products and platforms save time, money and energy. Learn how to do it with this guide!
Developing a mobilee design system can be a great asset for any business.
With the right approach and set of processes, you can easily create consistent experiences across multiple platforms and products, ultimately saving you time, energy, and money. Learn how to implement a mobile design system with this comprehensive guide!
Understand the Landscape.
Before you start developing a mobile design system, it’s important to gain a deep understanding of the digital landscape and best practices; it’s just as important as the look and feel of your products. Start by researching trends and technologies, understanding user needs, and learning more about design principles such as universal design. Gain an understanding of how people are currently using mobile devices in day-to-day life and identify the most used device types to ensure your system is designed for everyone.
Start Building Your Components Library.
Once you have a good understanding of the digital landscape, trends and technologies, you’re ready to create your components library. This consists of all the elements you will use to build out your mobile design system — such as buttons, fonts, color palette, photography style, animations and more. Defining the aesthetics of your product is key in creating a consistent user experience across different platforms.
Establish Design Principles and Guidelines.
Once the components of your library are established, it’s time to start defining design principles, standards and guidelines.
These can range from voice and tone considerations to rules regarding typography, color, imagery, grids and accessibility.
Defining a clear set of rules for all interaction designers and stakeholders will help ensure consistency across all
channels — both now and in the future — allowing you to create a more unified digital experience for your users.
Define Your Design Assets, Platforms and Frameworks.
It’s important to establish an inventory of design assets, platforms and frameworks in your mobile design system to ensure consistency across user experiences. Start by documenting specific application needs and consider the platforms that best support them. For example, if you are creating a mobile-first app or want to maximize your reach on multiple channels, you may need to include both iOS and Android guidelines. Additionally, selecting pre-defined frameworks such as Material Design will save time during development since no manual coding is required.
Create a Systematic Design Process for Documentation and Maintenance.
Once you have outlined the foundational elements of your mobile design system, create a process for documenting and maintaining them.
This process should include regular reviews to ensure all guidelines remain up-to-date, as well as updating assets when necessary.
Additionally, ensure key stakeholders like designers, developers, and product owners have access to the most
recent version of the system on an ongoing basis.
Taking these steps will provide users with reliable experiences from one device to another and keep them engaged over time.
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