How to improve your app’s UI without starting from scratch
Any UX or front-end developer loves a project from scratch: it’s a real opportunity to think about the experience in a structured way and map it to the client’s ambitions. The opportunity to build a solution to a real problem.
However, we know that products/projects do not always start this way. Whether due to budget limitations or a decision by the management itself, justifying this as an opportunity and timing according to the business area. It’s never too late to improve the UI of an existing solution, but critical thinking is necessary regarding the solutions that present themselves because, at the end of the day, less is more.
This type of situation, in which a revamp of existing solutions is necessary, is something natural for the KinetIT Digital Experience team: we use the team’s experience and vision of each of the members to achieve the best possible solution.
There are always two possible paths we can follow:
1- There is plenty of time and budget to invest in a total redesign of the experience of the product or
2- There is neither time nor budget to rethink the solution.
It is on this second point that I would like to focus: Which items are necessary to complete so that we can add value in terms of UI and UX in a product already developed or in a very advanced phase of consolidation?
A- Understanding the customer (product owner), we must be able to adapt to the customer.
This is ultimately the owner of the product or project and is the one who will best guide us in the right direction. Yes, we prefer to deal with people willing to retain our perspective combined with our experience, which is what happens in most cases. When we are only asked to make something “prettier,” it is fundamental to ask the right questions to quickly categorize the end-user or product users. With the construction of this profile, we also come up with the most appropriate answers to ask the client so that we can understand how far we can go and how creative we can be.
B- Maintain close communication with the client
Regardless of the relationship of trust with the client, it is never a good idea to assume the answer to significant decisions where reversing them can significantly impact development teams and other stakeholders. We should ensure close communication with the client and ensure all decisions are appropriately documented consistently to demonstrate the best possible choices that may be taken during the project.
C- Respect rules and promote consistency
In most situations, and because it is a product that we are not thinking about from the beginning, there are rules previously thought about, whether they were thought up by designers or the team that started the development. There is an opportunity here to promote a better organisation and documentation of assets and experience decisions, using the creation of a style guide and design system (when applicable and justifiable) or simply using the documentation and facilitated consultation of these decisions by the rest of the team. Our window of opportunity to be creative depends on the situation. Most of the time, and using proper communication with stakeholders, we can be constructive and take advantage of good decisions from the past, combining these with so many other recommendations that the team feels may make sense to introduce to add value to the final product.
D- Consider the different phases of the project
When we are involved in a project of this type, despite the time available being very limited, it is imperative that we manage to synchronise with the right stakeholders and that we can collect all the necessary information. This need will result in a project start-up with less added value, which is compensated immediately due to the knowledge and communication already achieved with the client.
The best solution is not always a complete restart of the solution. We must be able to adapt to the moment and phase of the project so that the real added value is achieved. This does not mean that more profound changes can be made at a later stage, but a balance that makes sense is essential for the success of our intervention.
