Foundational Design
What is Foundational Design?
Foundational Design is the discipline of design, invented by Third Layer, that focuses on design foundations first, as a core architecture to the company’s functions.
If you can imagine a house, without a foundation, you may worry that it won't last, or will soon collapse. Many companies, including more mature larger companies, miss the mark, when it comes to establishing the core foundation of what the company is. That’s where foundational design comes in.
Specialized designers, who are licensed and backed by the American Board of Designers, and are trained in foundational design are the experts you want to talk to if your company needs help in this area.
Here’s a breakdown of what services you’ll get and how it works.
LAYER 1 — BRAND
Brand evaluation and scoring
Brand Building
Brand System Design
Team Education
Logo
Brand Book
Brand Guidelines
Press Kit
Pitch Deck
White Papers
Data Sheets
Read more about level 1 🔥🔥🔥👉🏻 here 👈🏻.
LAYER 2 — SYSTEMS
Design Mission
Design Philosophy
Design Language
Design Strategy
Design System
Design Specs (Storybook)
Style Guide
Pattern Library
Design Guidelines and Best Practices
Components
Symbols
Semiotics
Modularity
Information Architecture
LAYER 3 — PREP TO LAUNCH
UI
Polish
Visual Design Systems
Iconography
Audit
Metrics
A/B Testing
User Testing
Ethnographic Studies
UX QA
UX Documentation
Diagrams
Heuristics
Product Evaluation
Team Training and Workshops
Front End Dev Evaluation and Consolidation
Build Libraries
Build an Internal CMS
JTBD
LAYER 4 — LAUNCH
Pricing Tests
Market Research
Funnel Creation
Call to Actions
Hook Techniques
BJ Fogg Models
Engagement Education
Engagement Creation
Alpha Monitoring
Beta Monitoring
Adjust on the Fly
Launch with Engineering
Marketing Launch Oversight
Campaigns
Strategy
Metrics Strategy Deployed
LAYER — EVALUATE AND REFINE
Set Up Analytics and a Data Science System
A&B Shop
Journey mapping
Touchpoint Mapping
Persona Creation and Evaluation
Demographic Evaluation
Product Refinement
Brand Alignment
Cycle Reset Planning
Roadmapping
New Product Planning
The certified, Foundational Designer, will teach, mentor, and help build these levels into your company, watching carefully for biases and ensuring the team is onboard and educated on the process and expected outcomes.
And that’s it!
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Jonathan Bowman is a San Francisco based Product Design Leader, and accomplished author, with over 20 years of experience. He has worked with companies like, AT&T, Verizon, Amazon, Spotify, Arlo, TiVo, NETGEAR, and Virgin. He is a Director of UX design at Third Layer, where he has helped build hundreds of strong brands for startups, with the same process laid out in this article.
