A blueprint conjures up visions of a plan, a model, or a template. It can be replicated and saves time and effort. Similarly, in the digital world, Design Systems act as the blueprint for creating consistent, scalable, and efficient product design.

Any physical or digital product needs a defined process to establish a unique identity. This becomes crucial in today’s crowded marketplace, full of parity products and services.  The quality of customer experience on digital platforms is often a differentiating factor for brands and becomes the basis of customer engagement and loyalty.

Creating a robust design system is essential for startups and enterprises aiming to deliver consistent, scalable, and efficient digital experiences. For senior design professionals, mastering their creation and governance is key to driving product quality, team efficiency, and brand integrity across complex organizations. This blog explores the best practices in building and maintaining Design Systems. It covers the need for Design Systems, how to build them, their benefits in redesign projects, and strategies for maintenance and scalability.

What is a Design System? Why do we need one?

Design System combines branding and UI/UX principles, establishing a shared vision to ensure each user touchpoint reflects the brand’s values and personality. Such consistency promotes familiarity and memorability, vital assets in a digital marketplace crowded with similar offerings.

Today, organizations must deliver seamless user experiences across multiple platforms and products. A design system addresses this by providing a shared language and reusable components that unify design and development efforts.

Without a design system, product teams risk inconsistent UI elements, leading to fragmented user experiences and brand dilution.

Building a Design System: best practices

Building a design system is a structured process that requires careful planning, collaboration, and iteration. Here are the Design System best practices and key steps:

1. Analyze your current design process

Start by auditing your existing design assets, tools, and workflows. Understand the design maturity of your teams and identify pain points such as inconsistencies or inefficiencies. This baseline helps tailor the design system to your organization’s needs.

2. Define guiding principles

Establish design principles that reflect your organization’s values and goals. These principles act as a north star, guiding design decisions and ensuring alignment across teams. For example, if accessibility is a priority, include actionable guidelines for inclusivity and compliance with standards. Airbnb’s Design Language System centers on “belonging,” influencing warm colors, approachable typography, and inclusive visuals that make every interaction feel personal.

3. Conduct a UI audit and catalog components

Inventory all UI elements—buttons, forms, icons, colors, typography, grids, and patterns. Evaluate each component’s usage and relevance, keeping only those that serve user needs and business goals. This creates a component library that forms the core of your design system.

4. Create a visual language

Define your brand’s visual identity through colors, typography, spacing, and iconography. Introduce grid systems and layout rules to ensure consistency across screens and devices. This visual language should be documented clearly for easy reference.

5. Build and document components

Develop reusable UI components with clear usage guidelines, including behavior, anatomy, and accessibility considerations. Documentation should be comprehensive, covering when and how to use each component, supported by code snippets and design files.

6. Establish governance and collaboration models

Design Systems evolve continuously. Define a governance strategy to manage updates and contributions. Common models include:

• Solitary: one person or a small team owns the system.
• Centralized: a dedicated team manages the system.
• Federated: multiple teams share responsibility.

Choose a model that fits your organization’s size and culture, ensuring clear communication and version control. IBM’s Carbon Design System encourages regular review sessions and open channels for feedback, balancing governance with community contributions.

7. Roll out and promote adoption

Communicate the design system’s value and usage across teams. Provide training, create accessible documentation hubs, and encourage feedback. Use tools like Slack channels or project management software to keep everyone informed and engaged.

Benefits of using a Design System

Redesigning digital products is complex and resource-intensive. Leveraging a design system during redesign offers significant advantages:

• Reduction in design time: on average, screen design times reduced significantly by around 30-40%, thanks to the library of pre-designed elements.
• Reduced feedback time: stakeholders reviewed designs faster due to the predictable structure and consistent patterns.
• Minimized errors: with standardised components and design patterns, inconsistencies across screens and platforms dropped significantly.
• Pre-built components: designers could leverage reusable UI components, eliminating the need to start designs from scratch.
• Reduced iterations: pre-approved design standards minimised back-and-forth revisions during the design phase.
• Efficiency in the hand-off process: developers received well-documented, pixel-perfect designs, reducing guesswork and errors during implementation.
• User-centered improvements: Design Systems often incorporate accessibility and usability best practices, ensuring the redesign enhances the overall user experience.
• Scalability for future growth: a well-maintained design system supports ongoing iterations and expansions without starting from scratch, making redesigns more sustainable.
• Cross-functional alignment: Design Systems foster collaboration between designers, developers, and product managers by establishing clear guidelines and standards. This shared understanding minimizes miscommunication and streamlines workflows.

In essence, a design system is not just a style guide but a strategic asset that drives product quality, team productivity, and business growth.

Design System in action

We recently created a Design System for a leading audit brand in the US.  Our journey began with building a robust design system based on the product requirements, new brand guidelines, and foundation DSM created for the website. This foundation ensured that our approach was both strategic and aligned with core values and vision of enhanced experience.

We built the design system using the Atomic Design framework, defining and designing everything from tokens to layouts.

We then set out the design goals, a design style guide, design tokens and components.

As we transitioned to redesigning the training platform, we carefully adapted the design system. Our approach focused on addressing challenges like inconsistencies and scalability while retaining the brand essence.

Key takeaways

• Design Systems are essential for delivering consistent, scalable, and efficient digital experiences across products and teams.

• Building a design system involves auditing current assets, defining guiding principles, creating a visual language, developing reusable components, and establishing governance.

• Using a design system in redesign projects accelerates workflows, improves consistency, reduces technical debt, and enhances collaboration.

• Maintenance requires continuous updates, clear ownership, scalable architecture, thorough documentation, and effective communication.

• Choosing the right governance model and fostering cross-functional collaboration are critical for long-term success.

• By investing in a well-crafted design system, startups and enterprises can streamline their product development, improve user experiences, and maintain a competitive edge in the digital marketplace.

• This strategic approach to Design Systems empowers product managers and design experts to build cohesive, user-centered digital products that scale efficiently and adapt to evolving business needs.

Creating a successful product isn’t just about adding the right features, it’s about ensuring users’ ease and delight in interacting with it. That’s where usability testing comes into play. 

This comprehensive guide breaks down the what, why, and how of usability testing to help you design user-centric digital products. 

We also introduce our RAPID framework (an easy-to-use design thinking approach). 

What is usability testing?

Usability testing is a structured, user-centric approach to evaluate how intuitive, efficient and satisfying your digital product is. More than just functionality, it’s about observing real people as they try to complete tasks using your product. Where do they pause? What causes confusion or frustration?

It makes you understand the user experience of a particular instance of the prototype you are testing for. Whereas the user interview would provide a holistic view of user psychology. 

Elements of usability testing 

According to the popular user experience community, Nielsen Norman Group, usability testing has three elements. However, we believe there exist a fourth element as the facility:

• The Facilitator – the guide who creates the tasks and sets the tone. 
• The Participant – the real-world user who brings authentic interaction. 
• The Tasks – the practical product journeys you want the user to navigate. 
• The Facility – that has testing tools, prototypes, and digital assets. 

Why usability test? 

You might wonder, “If we’ve hired expert UX designers, why do we still need usability testing? Shouldn’t their experience and talent be enough?” 

Think of it this way: every choice on the interface has countless variables, and each user brings unique perspectives and preferences. The combination of these factors is vast, and there’s no shortcut around it. Usability testing is the key to unlocking those insights. By observing users engage with your product or service, you get a clear view of what resonates and what needs a second look. 

How does usability study drive conversions? 

UX often segments customers into continued journey vs drop-offs. Carefully crafted UX walks users toward their goals, whether exploring content, making a purchase, or downloading an app. Visitors who move through your platform easily are far more likely to complete desired actions. Conversely, even minor usability lags can leave potential customers feeling frustrated or lost, leading to high bounce rates and lost opportunities. 

UX testing methods 

Usability testing transcends the mere act of checking if buttons are clickable or verifying that date fields can be personalized. Instead, it incorporates a range of methods designed to find how users genuinely interact with your product. Below are several core methods to consider: 

Moderated testing 

In this method, you (the researcher) walk participants through a series of tasks, observing their actions and inquiring about their thought processes in real-time. Because you have the chance to ask for clarification, moderated testing works well for complex or lengthy workflows that might confuse new users. 

Unmoderated testing 

Here, participants complete tasks independently, often through an automated platform. This approach allows for faster feedback and covers a broad spectrum of users, but you lose the ability to ask follow-up questions during the session. 

In-person and remote testing 

Usability testing can be conducted in person or remotely. These are not separate testing types but delivery modes that complement both moderated and unmoderated formats. 

In-person sessions allow you to be physically present with participants, making it easier to observe non-verbal cues like facial expressions, body language, or moments of hesitation. These cues are valuable for capturing deeper user insights. 

Remote sessions, on the other hand, are conducted online using screen-sharing tools or dedicated usability platforms. They are ideal for distributed teams, global user bases, or scenarios where logistics make in-person testing impractical. 

The journey doesn’t conclude with data gathering. Post-testing, the real challenge begins – analyzing your findings for actionable insights. This is where we can step in. 

How to conduct usability testing: a step-by-step framework 

Effective usability testing goes beyond checklists and surface-level observations. At Robosoft, we follow a proven methodology called RAPID (Robosoft Accelerator for Product Innovation in Digital), a plug-and-play, Design Thinking–based framework. 

We have conducted extensive usability testing for a wide range of consumer and enterprise apps. One such engagement was with Motif, a US-based photobook editing app for iOS. Here’s how we put theory into action. 

STEP 1 – Preparation stage: project setup 

Preparation stage is the foundation of a successful empathy-based usability testing project. It ensures that the research objectives are clear, and the right users are recruited. 

For example, in our work with Motif, we segmented users into age-based cohorts (Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X). Each with different levels of photo-editing experience. This helped us set realistic goals, such as selecting photo book types, uploading images, and customizing layouts. 

STEP 2 – Testing phase: unmoderated usability testing 

This phase involves evaluating the live product or prototype to identify usability and product issues.  

In Motif’s case, we conducted task-based unmoderated tests where participants interacted with the app on their iPhones and iPads. Tasks included selecting a book type, choosing photos, editing layouts, and checking out. The sessions revealed valuable insights, such as frequent confusion around image selection sliders and theme previews, and helped identify friction points like long loading times during checkout. 

Empathy Interview (Follow up)

This step involves deeper user conversations to explore motivations, challenges, and emotional responses, adding context to what was observed during task completion. 

For Motif project, we conducted empathy-driven interviews to understand not just what users did, but also why they performed particular action. For instance, users who skipped the guided tours shared that the language was too dense or repetitive. Others expressed frustration over not being able to preview themes before selection. These emotional insights proved crucial in shaping product-level recommendations. 

STEP 3 – Usability report phase: insights and recommendations 

The final stage involves analyzing the findings and presenting them in a structured report, as well as supporting the planning of the next steps. 

Our final report for Motif consolidated effectiveness, efficiency, and desirability scores. We prioritized findings into Must Fix, Should Fix, and UI/UX Upgrades, helping the product team quickly focus on what mattered the most. 

While the above Motif case study offers a glimpse into our usability testing approach, it’s just one of many success stories. At Robosoft, we’ve partnered with several global brands across industries to improve user journeys through thoughtful research and design. 

Usability testing best practices 

Use these guidelines when planning, conducting, and analyzing usability tests. It focuses on ethical considerations, data accuracy, and meaningful product improvements. 

• Get consent from participants: clearly explain the study’s purpose and how you will use the data. Request written or verbal agreement before starting.
• Recruit relevant users: target participants who match your product’s user profile. Their feedback will reveal issues and requirements that matter the most.
• Record and analyze results: document the observations throughout testing. Review data to identify pain points and prioritize improvements.
• Test in the real environment: simulate actual usage conditions (devices, environments, connection speeds). This approach highlights issues that emerge in day-to-day scenarios.
• Conduct relevant compatibility checks: ensure usability is tested in the environments your users will actually use. If your product is mobile-first, focus on device and OS diversity. If it’s web-only, browser compatibility might matter more. Instead of a blanket cross-platform approach, align testing environments with real-world usage scenarios.
• Conduct iterative testing: integrate usability tests at different stages of your development lifecycle rather than treating it as a one-time activity. By revisiting the product repeatedly, you catch potential issues sooner and refine the UX at every stage, saving considerable time and resources in the long run.
• Prioritize usability over visual perfection: instead of focusing on pixel-perfect interfaces or polished UI elements, prioritize making features intuitive, accessible, and functional. A well-designed feature loses value if users can’t understand or effortlessly access it. 

Taking your product to the next level 

Usability testing is one of the most valuable investments you can make in your product’s success. It helps build customer confidence, identify hidden issues early, and fine-tune the user experience before launch. 

Depending on the need and state of the project, usability testing can be conducted for the specific type of results that one intends to get out of it. It does incur initial cost, but the long-term benefits are invaluable. 

Once your product moves into the prototype phase (before any code is written), usability study helps validate ideas and gather early feedback on new implementations. Testing at this phase enables faster design iterations and ensures that only user-validated features move forward, reducing rework and saving both time and cost 

If you wish to be more closely involved, our RAPID methodology offers a structured, collaborative approach. Both you and your team can observe and analyze test sessions together. Perhaps you are wondering how many users to include, whether you should personally review the findings, or if you would prefer a comprehensive report. You don’t need to have all the answers right now. We are here to guide you step by step. Contact us to explore how usability testing can fit seamlessly into your workflow.

More than half of US consumers believe that ordering delivery and takeout from restaurants is an “essential part of their lifestyle”. The trends would be along similar lines across the globe. In some countries, ordering 3-6 times a week is common among the 25-34 age group. While ordering food delivery via third-party aggregator apps or websites is common, a significant number opt to order directly through a restaurant’s website or app .  

Aggregator platforms provide initial reach, but also restrict branding, charge high commissions, and limit direct customer engagement. Food ordering via one’s own website or mobile app makes business sense for restaurant and QSR chains. A user-centric approach and digital experiences that prioritize customer needs are a critical need for such an initiative. The starting point for this journey is service design. 

What is service design in online food ordering? 

Service design is all about creating an experience that aligns with customer needs and preferences. It is about thoughtfully designing processes, touchpoints, and interactions that align with those expectations. It also involves understanding how customers interact with your app or website – from browsing menus to placing orders and tracking deliveries. 

Effective service design takes into account every element involved in the ordering process, including digital and physical environments, employee-customer interactions, and all service touchpoints. The real value of service design comes from involving all stakeholders in the process. Through collaborative efforts, such as design thinking workshops, businesses can gather diverse perspectives and incorporate them into the design process. 

Benefits of a seamless digital experience for QSRs  

A well-designed food ordering system can turn peak-hour chaos into a streamlined operation and meet evolving customer preferences. Here are a few benefits that can introduce your restaurant to new customers. 

• Faster service during peak hours through automated queuing and order management.
• Gain insights into customer preferences and test the market for new menu items.
• Expanded reach by integrating third-party delivery platforms.
• Enhanced customer satisfaction with real-time updates and delivery tracking.
• Better marketing opportunities through targeted digital campaigns based on customer data.
• Reduced overhead costs through improved staff scheduling and resource allocation.
• Enhanced kitchen inventory management and optimizing supply.
• Increased order accuracy with mobile ordering systems.

Food ordering experiences commonly overlooked by QSR brands 

Customers are more likely to share bad experiences than good ones. Therefore, it’s essential for QSR brands to continually optimize their app design to avoid common pitfalls, such as:

Missing favorites: many QSRs miss the option to allow customers to save and quickly reorder their favorite meals. Without a favorites list, customers are forced to reselect items from scratch, which can lead to longer ordering times. Including a simple “favorites” option enhances convenience and encourages repeat orders.

Visual appeal of food: another common oversight in digital ordering is the absence of photos for some menu items. You don’t order what you don’t see. Providing high-quality images for all menu items creates a more engaging and appetizing customer experience. Brands that prioritize visually appealing menus stand a better chance of attracting and retaining customers.

Lack of customization: customers appreciate the ability to tailor their orders to their preferences, whether that means adding extra toppings, choosing portion sizes, or selecting dietary preferences. For example, features like “Add cooking request” allowing special instructions or additional comments during order customization, make the experience feel more tailored and accommodating. 

Limited filtering options: customers value the ability to filter options based on their specific needs, such as distance, fastest delivery time, or even toggle between delivery and pickup options. Many QSR apps overlook this, forcing users to scroll through irrelevant options, which can be time-consuming and lead to missed opportunities for restaurants to capture potential orders. Offering advanced filtering options allows users to make quicker decisions, provide more control and convenience.

Difficulty finding cart: another common challenge users face is the difficulty in locating the cart. When customers are ready to check out, they want easy and immediate access to their cart without navigating through multiple screens. If the cart icon is not clearly visible or accessible throughout the ordering process, it can lead to increased cart abandonment. 

Creating seamless digital food ordering experiences 

We must remember that the customer ordering food online is also a user of several other mobile & app experiences across categories. The intuitive design and user experience of one app or mobile site in one category makes them expect a similar or better experience in all categories.

User-friendly QSR web and mobile app design 

While mobile apps lead the way in online food delivery, websites remain an essential part of the QSR ecosystem. They offer a convenient platform for users who prefer browsing menus on larger screens or placing orders from desktops, particularly in office settings. Websites also serve as a critical entry point for first-time customers who discover services through web searches.

Customers interacting with your platform expect effortless navigation and mobile optimization to accommodate their fast-paced lifestyles. The layout should be intuitive, with well-organized menus and a responsive design that adapts seamlessly across devices. It’s also crucial to prioritize accessibility by following WCAG guidelines to ensure that all users, including those with disabilities, can easily navigate your platform. This enhances inclusivity and broadens your customer base.

Additionally, visual appeal plays a crucial role in capturing attention. A clean, aesthetically pleasing interface with high-quality images and clear fonts creates a professional, welcoming experience that encourages users to explore further and complete their orders. 

Personalization 

Personalization is the key ingredient that transforms casual users into loyal customers by making them feel valued and understood. By analyzing customer data, QSRs can offer personalized recommendations that suggest meals based on:

• Past orders
• Customer demographics
• Loyalty program data
• Feedback and reviews
• Seasonality (or limited time offers)

Additionally, enabling customizable profiles allows users to set preferences, dietary needs and even create profiles for different family members, ensuring that every suggestion or offer feels relevant to their specific needs. Dynamic content further enhances this by adapting menus and promotions in real-time based on user data, making each interaction feel exclusive and relevant. Personalizing the experience ensures that repeat visits become a deliberate outcome of the design strategy rather than a matter of luck. 

Efficient delivery and order fulfillment process  

Customers expect their orders to arrive fresh and fast. Providing real-time order tracking offers transparency and builds trust by allowing customers to follow their order journey from preparation to delivery.

Offering flexible delivery options is another way to elevate customer satisfaction. Whether customers want fast delivery for immediate cravings or more budget-friendly options for larger orders, having a variety of choices ensures their needs are met.

Accuracy in order fulfillment is equally critical. Partnering with reliable delivery services ensures that meals are delivered on time and without errors, building a positive and consistent experience.

Incorporating sustainable practices, such as eco-friendly packaging or fuel-efficient delivery methods, aligns with modern customer preferences and demonstrates a commitment to responsible business practices.

Simplified onboarding and checkout 

A user-friendly onboarding means effortless app navigation. The goal is to make both processes quick and frictionless by only requesting necessary information, such as an email, delivery address, and payment options. Offering a guest checkout option is especially useful for first-time users, removing the barrier of mandatory account creation and encouraging immediate completion.

Customers appreciate having various payment options, including credit cards, digital wallets like Apple Pay and even Buy-Now-Pay-Later services. Additionally, integrating local payment methods, such as PayPal, builds trust and reduces hesitancy during checkout. 

Customer reviews: building trust through genuine feedback 

Customer reviews are the modern equivalent of word-of-mouth, influencing the decisions of potential buyers. Displaying positive reviews and testimonials prominently on your platform acts as social proof, encouraging new customers to trust your brand based on the experiences of others.

However, negative reviews shouldn’t be ignored. Addressing them with transparency and professionalism not only resolves customer concerns but also showcases your commitment to improving service quality.

Beyond managing feedback, user-generated content (UGC) like customer-shared photos and videos brings a layer of authenticity to your brand. Additionally, tapping into popular review platforms like Yelp, Google Reviews, and local directories boosts your online visibility and credibility, ensuring your business stands out in the crowded digital landscape.

Building a user-centric online food ordering experiences requires thoughtful planning, design thinking, feature-rich development, and seamless integration. Our design practice also places a strong emphasis on emotional design, creating digital experiences that resonate deeply with users, evoking feelings of joy, trust, and excitement. These human-centric emotional pillars, along with empathy, form the foundation of our product design approach.

At Robosoft, we have gained insights into consumer behaviour in online food ordering after extensive work in the category including a complete UI/UX revamp of McDonald’s web & app (which resulted in 103% increase in orders via the mobile platform), a unique website for ARK Restaurants allowing for reservations for 22 of their outlets across the US and a last-mile delivery platform for food delivery brands in the Middle East, among others.

We are an Experience Engineering company offering a full suite of services in digital product design & development.  We are recognized as a Top Product Design Company, and a Top User Experience Company, and are committed to helping you create a delightful QSR digital platform that enhances that builds customer engagement, loyalty and your bottom line. Delicious, isn’t it?