The Power of Live Design Reviews
Design reviews—often a developer’s nightmare—usually involve static screenshots and lengthy feedback, leading to frustration, delays, and compromised quality. But what if we could eliminate the ambiguity and speed up the process?
As a UI Designer, one of the most transformative practices I've adopted is live design reviews. This real-time approach has revolutionised how project teams collaborate, significantly streamlining the design and development process while improving outcomes.
As designers, we often spend hours crafting systems and components, only to see them interpreted differently by developers. You might ask, “Why not just use inspect mode in Figma? It’s just math, right?” But even with pixel-perfect designs, discrepancies still arise, leading to frustration and delays on both sides.
That’s where live design reviews come in. Rather than relying on static feedback, these reviews allow designers, developers, and stakeholders to assess the build together, make decisions instantly, and eliminate miscommunications. This approach drastically reduces delays and accelerates the entire workflow.
Holding weekly live design reviews ensures that projects stay on track and aligned. These iterative sessions break down the design into smaller, more manageable sections, preventing scope creep and ensuring consistency. By catching issues early, we save time and avoid costly fixes down the road.
In a recent project, we used live reviews to address issues with a full-width navigation bar at ambiguous breakpoints. Problems with spacing and text size that weren’t visible in Figma became apparent during the live build, allowing us to make real-time adjustments and ensure the design worked seamlessly in the build. Live reviews not only guide the build process but also help UI designers quickly spot and correct any design discrepancies.
Atomic Design 2.0 further amplifies the effectiveness of live reviews. By breaking down the design into modular components—Atoms, Molecules, Cells, Organisms, and Templates—we can focus on individual units like buttons or navigation. This allows designers and developers to resolve issues quickly without disrupting the entire design system.
Traditional reviews often focus on entire screens, making it difficult to isolate specific issues. With Atomic Design, however, we tackle individual elements—adjusting button styles or refining padding across breakpoints—ensuring consistency across the product and making iterations faster and more focused.
For live reviews to be effective, a clear agenda is essential. Components—whether buttons, forms, or full-page layouts—must be review-ready. Developers should present their work across desktop, tablet, and mobile viewports, enabling the team to assess how the design performs at different screen sizes. Designers can then make real-time adjustments, cutting down on the usual back-and-forth of emails and Jira tickets.
Finally, recording the session is key. It ensures that all feedback is captured and easily accessible for future reference. Any unresolved issues can be tracked in Jira, and tasks assigned for follow-up—ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.
In the end, live design reviews streamline communication, foster faster collaboration, and help teams deliver a more cohesive product. Combined with Atomic Design 2.0, teams can iterate quickly, maintain consistency, and avoid the headaches and delays typically associated with traditional review cycles.
By focusing on real-time feedback and modular components, design reviews become more efficient, leading to a smoother, more collaborative process overall.
