Guidelines for design and development of web applications and content ensure a common appearance and behavior across systems. Based on industry best-practices, standards, user research, and requirements, taxonomies and style guides serve as living documents for application designers, developers, and analysts when developing or enhancing a product.
Because people are creatures of habit, it is important to ensure a consistent user experience. Design concepts, like white space, choice of color, overall flow, and labeling should all follow a set of rules that can be recognized as product standards.
Here are some things to think about when building a consistent design:
- Branding
- Color Palettes
- Typography
- Iconography
- Dimensions (widths, heights, standard attributes)
- Layouts (list/detail)
- Navigation
- Forms
- Error/Warning Messages, alerts, and other messaging
- Encapsulation of Data