In many SaaS startups, design takes the backseat in the development process. So, when someone mentions a design driven development process, the first response is skepticism.
Many professionals believe a design led development process will prioritize the product’s aesthetic appeal over its technical functionality. Simply put, they think it will be looks over performance.
However, this needs to be clarified. Design led product development doesn’t mean you’re putting less effort into features or functionality. It means you’re basing the development on design to eliminate the tedious process of making features no one will use.
It saves time. Plus, it makes your product more efficient. We add more to this below to bring the point home.
What Is Design Driven Development?
Design driven development is a software development approach in which you emphasize the design first and then code. If we explain it in the simplest terms, you first create a low-fidelity prototype.
Then, you go on to test it. After the testing process, you adjust certain aspects, like visuals, according to the user feedback. And finally, you go on to develop a full-fledged version of the product.
Coding is still integral to the process, but design gets at the forefront. In such a development, you would also include design practices, methods, and principles.
For example, you’ll start with conceptualization. Let’s say you want to create a ride-hailing app. You would first come up with a few ideas that you can test or ones that have already been working well among customers.
Then, you’ll move to the user interface. Now, this is the crucial part since it’s what will appeal to many of your customers. In fact, 70% of Gen Z users, a segment that accounted for 40% of global consumers in 2020, want websites to intuitively know what they are looking for.
So, you focus on creating an excellent user interface. Once you’ve made a few adjustments, the design goes to the development team for coding.
The result? No more development headaches.
How design led development differs from the traditional design process
Traditionally, software engineers and UX designers work separately. As a result, the end product is not well-aligned with what the consumers want.
The development team may do a great job adding every feature, but the layout may offer a poor user experience. Even worse, users may not be able to find these features.
What happens, then?
You have to make changes to the code. In the worst-case scenario, a rewrite or a complete design overhaul is needed.
On the other hand, when design precedes development, the UI/UX is considered from the very beginning.
The designers have already factored in the ”human” side of the product, and developers can focus on the technical aspects now.
Benefits of a Design Based Development Process
A design driven development process has many benefits, which is why we use it at VeryCreatives. Here are some advantages we’ve noticed when using this methodology.
Better project scope evaluation
One of the best things about design based development is that it eliminates the guesswork and assumptions. Instead, you bring everyone to the same table and brainstorm ideas before development begins.
For example, we’d sit with the client and involve our UI/UX designers in the meeting to ensure everyone is on the same page. Then, we answer questions like how do we make the product stand out? Which features are necessary, and which can be left out?
More importantly, which features make or break the user experience? The focus is to find the product’s primary value and determine how to make it available to the end user.
After the meetings come the additional steps like researching customer personas and creating user flows. It’s time-consuming, but it saves you time later.
Better cost estimation
Did you know users delete 50% of the apps within 30 days of installing it? There’s more. It results in a loss of $33,000 per month for every app.
Keeping this in mind, we’d rather spend more time and effort in the design stage than regret it later. When following design based development, you have a clear picture of the project scope.
That helps you get a near-to-accurate cost breakdown. Even if the cost fluctuates, it will be close to the estimate.
It’s a win for development agencies. Conventionally, if you’d give the client a ballpark figure, and it later turns out that a feature needs revamping or adjusting, you’ll have to account for the ”revision” expense.
Even if you previously added, let’s say, 20% as a buffer for changes, it’s still risky. With design-based development, the risk goes out of the window. There are fewer chances of a surprise expense.
Early identification of problems
There are only a few things in life worse than knowing that a product you’ve worked on for months needs a major overhaul.
The process is expensive, resource-intensive, and downright irritating.
In design led product development, this isn’t a concern. For one, it’s much cheaper to change things in the design phase than in development.
Two, it’s easier. You may have to make a few changes here and there. It’s not like the developers have to rewrite days or weeks’ worth of code.
Again, let’s take our example of the ride-hailing service. You’re in the design phase. Here, you can make adjustments like changing how the home page looks.
Or, you may think the onboarding process has too many steps. So, you can make changes to reduce the number of steps or streamline it further.
Similarly, you work through every screen to ensure the design is top-notch before it goes for development. Doing this exercise benefits you in the following ways:
- Less money spent later on correcting and fixing a feature
- No time wasted rewriting code
- Faster product launch
- Better customer feedback
Sounds like a win to us.
Improved user experience
Last but not least, if you get the design right, the user experience will automatically be better. We don’t have to share the plethora of statistics showing the importance of good user experience, but we’ll mention just a few to emphasize the point.
65% of consumers in a PwC survey said they prefer a positive experience over great advertising. That’s your end users telling you you need to focus on UX just as much as you do on marketing and advertising.
But here’s the thing. You don’t have to add every bell and whistle in there. In fact, the simpler the better, which is why 61% of consumers will recommend your brand to others if you have a simple design.
Adobe, Anthropologie, Staples, and American Express are examples of companies that made huge profits by tweaking their UX and UI. With design driven development, you can do the same.
Easier design to development handoff
The handoff from design to development can be a tricky phase in a project if the designs are not complete and comprehensive. Everything is chaotic because there are several boxes left unchecked. Now, the developers have to guess what they need to do and how they must do it.
Guess where you went wrong. You rushed through the design step.
On the contrary, the handoff is a breeze if you follow a design-based development process. Since everything is designed and tested, developers clearly know how to proceed with the coding phase.
How to Incorporate Design Driven Development in Your Workflow
Becoming a design driven SaaS startup is something that takes time to happen. Many software development and design teams are used to the conventional ways and take time to adjust to the new approach.
You need to take it step-by-step.
Encourage collaboration
Minus the “island effect,” which is making developers and designers feel isolated from each other. The island effect means that members of different teams feel like they’re operating from a faraway island, separate from the “land,” which is the project’s base.
Break the barrier between both teams and allow them to collaborate. For example, invite both parties to product meetings, mainly if you discuss new features.
Do early testing
There are two ways to go about product testing. One, do it early on and get enough feedback to incorporate changes in the design. Two, wait till the end and then realize you made a colossal blunder that will delay the launch and cost you a ton of money.
We stick with the first approach. You don’t have to go on with full-scale user testing. Start with paper prototypes and low-fidelity wireframes. Also, conduct user interviews.
Account for the additional time on the project timeline
Design driven development takes some extra time. It has to be efficient, not speedy.
When giving the client estimates for a project, remember to add buffers for design and testing.
Define KPIs upfront
If you don’t have benchmarks, you won’t know if the design is better than what you started with. Agree on key performance indicators such as customer satisfaction, user engagement, conversion rate, etc.
You’re not designing just for the sake of it. Instead, you want to know if you’re doing it right. The KPIs will help determine that.
Design Driven Development Assistance for Startups
As a startup, you may have a lot of ideas, but ideation doesn’t equal execution. Knowing how to bring your ideas to life is an art. That’s where we come in.
At VeryCreatives, we’re advocates of design driven development since we take this approach, too. We know our clients don’t want to waste time or money in the later stages of development. Honestly, nor do we.
If you’re a startup looking to get your product off the ground in no time and on budget, reach out to us. We can help.
