Design Mistakes Can Cost Thousands. Here’s How To Avoid This Cost
We sat in a company team meeting, and our CEO had a slide on the giant screen showing how much it costs the company to design and build a feature.
It was in the thousands.
He then showed another slide with the number of changes and mistakes that must be fixed and how much they cost the company.
I cringed at the thought of the ''small'' mistakes I had made costing the business more than my yearly salary 🫣
The cost of design and build wasn't something I had ever considered when working on a design project.
However, the company clearly cared about it and was prioritizing it.
It made me realize this could be a way to improve my design work—by ensuring I minimize the mistakes and rework needed on a project.
I wanted to step up my design game, and this was just the push I needed.
Here are a few of the methods that I have incorporated since to reduce costly mistakes (the last one is my favorite to do) 👉🏽
#1 - Prototype your flow and interactions
Here's how it works:
I design my wireframe flow
I add arrows to link up the screens
I create a prototype of my flow
I use the prototype on my phone, and I realize some interactions don't make logical sense
Don't assume that because your arrows match up on your Figma file, the interaction will make sense on the actual product.
Always test your prototype in action. Don't believe your arrows 🥲
#2 - Conduct a ''Break my design'' review
Here's how it works:
Invite designers to a design review. Give them context and tell them to approach your design and try to break every aspect.
This ensures they are focusing on finding potential risks and problems.
This will highlight if any aspects of your design could break and require more work.
(You might need thick skin for this one 🫣)
#3 - Run a design QA (quality assurance)
The quality assurance process differs for different companies.
Do you know what the process is for your company?
A quality assurance (QA) tester "runs various software tests to ensure it meets standards and guidelines before it can be marketed to consumers."
Often, this doesn't include the design implementation. If your team isn't testing your design, you may need to take that responsibility.
For one of the companies I worked for, I had a process where I would check the design implementation after it had been built and leave comments if changes needed to be made.
Here's a template I've mocked up, which is very similar to what I use at work
#4 - Usability test
Stop showing users your designs and asking them what they think.
Instead, give them a task to complete using your design and observe what they do.
You'll be surprised at the difference between what users say and do.
Users can't anticipate the challenges they will face when using your product.
#5 - Stress test your UI
Stop using your or celeb names (like I used to) in your designs. Use real data.
How does your UI work with a long label?
Or if there's a long paragraph of text? Or with real images?
I learned this lesson when I designed a screen similar to the one below (the one below is from AirBnb).
In my mockup, I used a grey box to show where the image would go. I added arrows on the left and right to scroll through the carousel of images.
When it was built, and the real photos were added, the arrows I added weren't visible due to the detail in the photos!
I then had to add pagination dots below the image as the solution, which meant changing what the engineers had built 🥶
Summary
Additional work upfront can save vast amounts of time and money later on.
A great designer doesn't just create great design solutions.
A great designer ensures the quality of these solutions is high.
Saving the business money.
If you want further clarification on any of these, send me a message on Instagram, and I'll answer any questions you have : ) 💬
I dedicate an hour a day to answering all questions I get from my newsletter readers! 💚
