I have recently read a number of blog posts, articles, and commentary arguing that design documentation is no longer needed as UI prototyping tools become more sophisticated and commonly used. While I agree that eliminating a 250-page design document can be a positive result, it’s not that documentation is inherently bad or unnecessary. The problem is that 250 pages is a failure to communicate on many projects. Teams need just-in-time references and guidance to support tight deadlines. Producing a document for its own sake, like any form of narcissism, is unproductive.
Effective communication of UI design, on the other hand, ensures that the final product not only is developed according to the planned design in a current development effort, but also that it can continue to evolve and grow in future iterations. Successful design documentation reaches beyond the single project or the moment the designer presents a prototype. Meaningful, pertinent communication about design delivers three key benefits that support the inevitable changes that a UI design is likely to have over its lifetime:
- Helping ensure traceability to the original goals, including user goals, throughout a project.
- Supporting ongoing changes to a design, which may or may not be initiated or guided by the UI designer, in response to new inputs, such as usability test findings and new requirements.
- Providing guidance beyond the initial project, as maintenance developers take over responsibility for the live product and as new people join development efforts on future versions.
Communicating UI design is not, therefore, about delivering a document per se, but about providing guidance over time. This is especially true for work after the initial development, such as maintenance development and new versions, when the original designer and sometimes the entire original development team may no longer be involved. The past design rationale should not be seen as a straightjacket on future design. Instead, it should provide scaffolding to help build future versions. Effective design documentation (whatever the actual delivery format) helps new developers quickly understand the “why” behind a design and help jump start any new effort.
Communicating design is essential when considering design of a user experience that occurs over time. As users become more sophisticated and more discerning, the products they use must change and evolve to serve these needs. Given the rapid pace of development, innovation in new versions is more achievable when teams can “stand on the shoulders of giants.” By not having to rediscover the rationale and user goals behind a product design with each development effort, development teams can continually develop products that are innovative and usable and keep pace with accelerating user expectations.
