Omni Core · UI and UX Optimization · Module
Design decisions
What is being changed and why, with the reasoning recorded so a later change does not undo it for reasons nobody remembers.
The idea
How it works
Undocumented design decisions get reversed. Someone new sees an odd arrangement, improves it, and reintroduces the problem it was solving.
Consistency is worth more than local optimisation. A pattern that is slightly worse everywhere but the same everywhere outperforms a set of individually optimised inconsistencies.
Working with it
In practice
- 01
Record the reason, not the decision
What problem the arrangement solves. The decision is visible in the interface; the reason is not.
- 02
Prefer the existing pattern
A new pattern has to be better by enough to justify the inconsistency, which is a high bar.
- 03
Note what was tried and failed
The obvious improvement has usually been attempted. Recording why it failed saves it being attempted again.
- 04
Keep the rationale near the design
In the design system rather than in a document nobody opens.
One level in
The components of design decisions
A component is something that exists afterwards which did not exist before — a deliverable or a mechanism, not an intention.
The obvious improvement has usually already been tried. Recording why it failed prevents it being tried again.
The other modules in ui and ux optimization
Understanding use
How people actually use the thing, established by watching rather than by inferring from analytics.
LearnTesting changes
Establishing whether a change improved anything, on a measure agreed beforehand, with enough volume to be readable.
LearnAccessibility
Whether the interface works for people using assistive technology, keyboards only, or with impaired vision or motor control.
Learn