A digital product is added to, renovated and partly demolished, much the same way a home is.
The older it is, the more problems are likely to arise when you when you try to add in new features.
So how can we update a product carefully to protect the business and user satisfaction?
Design or redesign, which is easier?
This was the question I posed to an audience at UX Oxford in 2024.
There was no consensus.
Starting from nothing is hard because there are no constraints. The first steps determine a certain course. This can feel quite daunting. However, you’ve got all the creative freedom available.
Starting from something has its benefits. Certain areas are already tried and tested. The core offering for product-market fit and the target user base may already be figured out.
Yet, evolving a product to its nth iteration is also challenging.
There’s time pressure. Users and shareholders are waiting for something new, not just a reworked version. The challenge is smoothly adding to or removing from the product. Technology continues to evolve in parallel, and user expectations are constantly rising.
UX maturity across a product is rarely even, and unexpected issues arise.
The tech stack may be changing, but that’s not the concern of the users, stakeholders, or shareholders.
New users are constantly joining, many of whom are younger or more diverse, which introduces new expectations. Managing these changes effectively is crucial. Competitors will capitalise on opportunities as the product ages.
Features should be retired when no longer serving a purpose. As attitudes and trends change, elements of the product you once thought were indispensable may no longer be relevant. Removing is usually less of an issue than adding or updating. When it gets too hard to update anything for any impact, it’s time to look at rebuilding.
Challenges of a rebuild
- Maintain the live service while dedicating resources to new design and development.
- Speed vs. accuracy: there are 10,000 details to check
- Changing user preferences and high expectations.
- There’s no map!
- Daily challenges: New questions arise, and issues pop up unexpectedly.
- Upgrading existing software can be difficult and some areas may be hard to rework to meet new needs.
- Gaps in team knowledge can lead to inefficiencies.
How to manage a redesign:
- Go fast and keep listening: Users are changing, so it’s essential to understand them both before and during the journey. Passive research, like joining meetings with users and colleagues, can provide great insight into what users are asking for and trying to achieve. Stay curious and loop in your team.
- The devil is in the details: Get to know your product inside out before starting or ensure you have someone on the team who does. This ensures everyone is aligned and well-informed.
- Designer discomfort zone: Set clear goals and deadlines for each section of the UX work to avoid designers getting lost in details. Redesign often requires designers to work at speed, and a “done is better than perfect” approach.
- Little and often updates: Hold short daily Q&A sessions to ensure everyone understands the scope. Check in regularly to keep the team on track.
- Team ops: Stay organised. As new team members join, they’ll adopt team mottos and rules, which helps maintain consistency and streamline practices.
- Examples of our mottos include:
- No lorem ipsum (we want real use cases, not placeholder text).
- Life is for living, but clean up after yourself to live better.
- Be kind to your future self In the rush to meet deadlines, it’s easy to let standards slip. Keep your files tidy and well-documented, so your future self doesn’t struggle to find references or iterate on designs.
- Examples of our mottos include:
- Housekeeping to go faster: Maintaining order in your design system helps you work more quickly and consistently. Invest time in organising your files and systems, as this will benefit both your current and future team and projects.
- An MVP is not an excuse for poor quality: MVPs or new features on older products can be rushed, but sloppy solutions are no one’s friend. A skilled team can deliver a small, well-executed slice of the larger vision. Maintaining high standards helps with future iterations and boosts user satisfaction.
Mindset shift
A product is never truly finished, and that’s okay.
Our own expectations were that it should be simple.
This was a mistake. Why should it be simple? It’s really hard!
Don’t be your own worst enemy.
How to handle this
Be the Water
The cycle of renewal, revival, and reinvention never ends. When we started our redesign, we thought it would be the final version, but the world keeps moving.
Does the product meet expectations? Can it go beyond them? Redesign is just one step — the journey of evolution is continuous.
The world is not going to stop for your updates and upgrades. They need to be prioritised, planned, or planned to ignore. And guess what, plans change.
Redesign is a stepping stone, go fast, always evolving the product.
The question to keep focused on is where is it taking you.
This article is based on a talk for UX Oxford in 2024, Sink, swim or become the water, with the working title, 10,000 details and counting.
