A version of this article was originally posted on PGHTechFuse.
Designing and building software is a team sport that requires different skills, good communication, creativity, and discipline. For a long time, there was a gap between the design work that defined the structure, flow, and interactions of software and the development work that brought it to life.
Connecting the languages of these two different skills—design and development—was a challenge for large enterprises as well as small companies. The gap still exists, but thanks to the evolution in both UX design and software development—and the tools we use—things are rapidly improving. UX style guides are one such tool that is helping to bridge the gap.
Here are some of the universal benefits a style guide can deliver:
• Better adoption—A successful style guide isn’t created BY designers FOR developers. If it’s done right, it is built together and becomes a universal language everyone uses. It’s essential to include QA testers as well to get their input. Co-creating a style guide will increase the likelihood that it gets used and continues to evolve.
• Codify best practices—You may already have shining examples of a full application or key screens or behaviors you’d want to reuse. Capture these in your style guide as a central place for communication.
• Improved usability—The consistent use of language, colors, layout and UI components supports end users in their journey and reduces cognitive load.
• Path of least resistance—Development teams will appreciate the reusability of code, especially if they’ve had a hand in creating it.
• The right focus—Software design and development is full of challenges. Designing and building commonly used components shouldn’t take time and energy away from solving genuinely complex and unique problems.
Read the full article titled, “PITTSBURGH UTILITY SPEEDS UP APP DEVELOPMENT WITH USER-CENTERED STYLE GUIDE:” at https://pghtechfuse.com/teq/pittsburgh-utility-speeds-up-app-development-with-user-centered-style-guide/
