Solving Inconsistent Design Decisions by Highlighting Conflicts

Identifying and Documenting Conflicts

To tackle the issue, I created a shared document to catalog the design conflicts I had noticed. This document outlined specific examples of inconsistencies, ranging from accessibility issues to variations in interaction patterns. I shared this initial draft with a select group of designers to gather their perspectives. Many resonated with the challenges I outlined, confirming that these conflicts were systemic.

Next, I engaged the Design Leadership team to discuss how best to address these conflicts. Leadership validated my observations and encouraged me to drive the initiative forward. With their support, I formed a small working group to brainstorm and propose solutions for each conflict. Some issues, such as ensuring accessibility compliance, had straightforward fixes, while others required deeper discussion and exploration.

Driving Alignment and Team Buy-In

Once the working group had developed solutions, I organized the information into a FigJam board. This visual format made it easier to present the conflicts and proposed resolutions to the broader design team. To foster engagement and collect feedback, I facilitated a red-yellow-green voting exercise. This exercise allowed team members to express their agreement, concerns, or suggestions for each conflict and its corresponding solution.

The feedback was invaluable. It highlighted scenarios we hadn’t initially considered and clarified areas of confusion. Based on this input, I refined the solutions and updated the documentation to reflect the team’s collective insights.

Institutionalizing Solutions

To ensure the solutions were accessible and actionable, I organized them into our team’s Notion workspace. I presented the final outcomes during a design sync meeting and shared them in our design and product Slack channels. By embedding these solutions into our workflows, I ensured they would be referenced and utilized whenever similar conflicts arose.

Impact

• Improved Design Consistency: The documented solutions have become a cornerstone for decision-making, helping designers create more cohesive and user-friendly interfaces across all three of MetaMask’s core products.
• Enhanced Collaboration: The structured feedback process brought the team together, fostering a sense of shared ownership and alignment on design principles.
• Better User Experience: Consistent design decisions have directly contributed to a more seamless and intuitive user experience.
• Scalable Framework: The process and documentation now serve as a scalable framework for addressing future design conflicts, enabling continuous improvement within the team.

This initiative not only resolved immediate inconsistencies but also established a culture of collaboration and accountability, ensuring that design decisions at MetaMask align with both user needs and team standards.