Design Review Committee – How Cubix Designs Winning Products

Did You Know That 70% of Online Businesses Fail Due to Poor Design and Usability? It’s a startling number, but it’s true—poor user experience (UX) and design are major contributors to the failure of online businesses. 

At Cubix, we believe that effective design goes beyond fully functional products; it’s more about matching users’ expectations. 

With our 15+ years of experience, we know that achieving this level of excellence is not possible with just a team of UI/UX designers. It takes a diverse team of niche professionals to review products from all perspectives, including customer needs, brand identity, and long-term success.

To serve this purpose, we have a team of creative individuals, including graphic designers, product owners, app/game experts, strategists, business analysts, and QA specialists. These professionals form what we call our Design Review Committee (DRC).

Why the DRC Committee Matters to Us

At Cubix, the Design Review Committee has a crucial role in ensuring that every project we undertake meets high standards of excellence concerning how it functions. It’s not just a checkpoint in the product lifecycle but a collaborative approach that drives our design philosophy. Here’s a detailed look at their primary responsibilities and impact on our success journey.

• Suggesting Improvements: One of its core responsibilities is to suggest areas for improvement within product solutions. The committee precisely discusses design elements, layouts, and overall user flows, bringing forward clear and actionable feedback.
• Incorporating Developer Feedback: We value our engineering teams’ feedback. The committee ensures that the technical team’s perspective and practical considerations are perfectly integrated into the wireframes and designs.
• Tracking Technology Trends: The DRC actively monitors technology trends to keep pace with evolving user requirements. It involves using the latest tech stack and appealing designs so that products remain impactful and current. 
• Product Development Guidelines: Our design review committee upholds quality standards and creates policies that demonstrate excellence in everything we do. 

Their involvement in our projects brings significant benefits, accommodating us to deliver 1300+ outstanding digital products within the market. Our clients can be confident that the results will be engaging and fulfill their needs:

• Consistent Designs
• Creative Insight
• Quick Issue Resolution
• Risk Mitigation
• On-Time Delivery

How the Design Review Committee (DRC) Operates

It’s a multifaceted team of developers, designers, product strategists, business analysts, and QA experts. They come together thrice a week, chaired by CEO Salman Lakhani, and huddle in sessions where everyone welcomes creative, unique ideas. 

Within 48 to 72 hours of receiving the materials, this committee is responsible for rapidly providing thoughtful and constructive feedback to relevant teams. This quick response is key to tracking the progress of all our projects and making adjustments if required. Here is a detailed procedure for how this process works: 

Our Structured Path to Product Excellence

Cubix’s product development approach goes beyond ‘doing everything the right way.’ Instead, our qualified experts focus more on providing solutions that resonate with the client’s idea and add value to the user’s lives.

The idea is to cover all the implicit and explicit expectations to ensure the highest degree of compliance with quality standards. To make it happen, we have divided our approach into four easy-to-go steps;

Step 1: End User Review of UI/UX

The design review committee begins with a preliminary overview of the UI/UX from the user’s point of view. Next, they thoroughly inspect all the features included in the given product to find whether it serves its predefined ‘purpose’ behind it. They also explore how easy or difficult it is for a non-technical user to use this product.  

This step’s main goal is to ensure whatever we create achieves customer objectives, aligns with the main purpose of development, and checks off all the boxes for usability, desirability, and accessibility. Here are the questions they usually look for answers to:

• Determine whether or not the product completely serve its purpose

• Does the product offer expected levels of UI/UX?

• What is the ease of using this product, and what is its expected performance in terms of its design?

• Are there any glitches or notable complications that affect the use of this product?

Note: If the product fails to achieve a total consensus of the team concerning its purpose and general feasibility, it goes back to the development process upon the client’s call, subject to the timeframe flexibility.

Step 2: Comparing with a Predefined Scope

After the product goes through preliminary testing, it is time for technical experts of this committee to step into the developers’ shoes. At this stage, the product’s general viability and purpose may have been achieved, but it is time to begin the technical evaluation of whether the digital solution completely aligns with a predefined scope.

The practice of setting up the project scope clearly enough is valuable as it proves to be a blueprint for the project that will assist the DRC team to assess deviations (if any) from the goals for the project. Following are the parameters our team compares the scope for:

Deliverables

The technical (UI/UX) and non-technical (ease of use) outcomes of the project are defined before the development process kicks off. The team makes sure the product is equipped with all the deliverables. Moreover, all the prespecified KPIs take effect to determine whether or not the product is specifically tailored to the client’s needs.

Project Vision

One way of achieving success is to ensure the product reflects the project vision. This is achieved by answering questions like: What is this software product’s strategic goal? What issue(s) does it aim to solve? Compared to its competitors’ products, what innovative edge does it carry? Does it fulfill the success parameters predefined for it?

Implicit Requirements

The implicit or functional requirements, as per the scope of the project, define how this product will interact with its users. Anything and everything that adds to the user experience and provides a solution to the ‘very’ problem this product is designed for, is checked.

Explicit Requirements

The explicit or non-functional requirements include defining how the system will operate, its user-friendliness, adaptability, speed, and utility.

Step 3: Best Practices in the Market

Once the software product has successfully been through the first two evaluation steps, it is almost ready to launch. However, a complete product doesn’t always mean success; it’s more about which one is up-to-date, uses the latest technology, and puts the best practices into use.

Our design review committee is well-informed about the best practices for a successful product development journey. For instance, iPhones do not come with a dedicated ‘Back’ button. Imagine using a banking app; you are done with making your transaction, watching the bank statement, and adding the beneficiary. 

You want to go to the Home page, but the back slide will only take you to the previous tab. In this case, the best practice is to provide a back button in the app that makes it easy for product users to move back.

Step 4: Aligning with Market Trends

We know how crucial it is to stay current with changing user requirements and market needs. Therefore, a forward-looking strategy is followed throughout the project so that every digital product we deliver has a competitive edge.

In the final step of our DRC, our niche specialists compare the final product with the market trends and look for the right technical additions to it, in order to make sure it is aligned with the latest market trends and boost visibility. The idea is to remain one step ahead of technological transitions and not lag behind due to ‘soon-to-be-outdated’ decisions.

Example: When Instagram introduced the double touch tap for like option, Facebook took little time to adopt it. Similarly. Netflix’s double-to-fast forward was a go-to thing for YouTube. These two and many more examples of how market trends, if followed at the right time, can bring tremendous results.

Report Generation

Once we complete all the above steps, we receive a comprehensive DRC report that highlights all the project’s technical, non-technical, and technological aspects.

Importantly, it also includes all the major and minor changes proposed by the team that could be subject to revision. This report gives the client a clear perspective of where the project stands regarding the set standards, and allows them to determine which direction they would love to proceed with.

The common points of the DRC report are:

• Test case execution of the project is 100 percent complete.
• The software project has no high-priority/system defects.
• The performance of the software is stable, along with all its design features.
• The software supports all obligatory platforms and browsers
• User acceptance testing is accomplished
• All the major and minor changes/improvements have been highlighted, along with the expected time allocation

Minutes of the last DRC Meeting

In a recent DRC meeting, the agenda was for a time management app product called Pauseitive. This project aimed to enhance time management, workflow efficiency, and the mental health of the workforce. The discussion began with an overview of the MVP.

Insights and Perspectives from the Committee

Everyone on this committee, including “Our CEO, Salman Lakhani, Zohaib Ali (project manager), Shahzaib Idrees (QA Specialist); and Nooruddin Lakhani (principal mobile app developer), shared their unique perspectives on each aspect of the product, including design, functionality, and features. They all suggested users to familiarize themselves with similar time management features by finding out how they manage their modern professional life, what chores they do for mental peace and productivity, and a specific tactics they follow to remain productive. 

In response to the above questions, one of the members, Nooruddin Lakhani, said, “I choose to set short goals that I accomplish on a daily basis to remain productive till the end of the day.” Shahzaib Idrees said, ”To remain charged at the office, I prioritize reading.” Some of the members revealed they love taking short breaks to manage work stress and listen to music.

After getting these real-life users perfectives, the committee recommended several unique features, such as short break reminders, music features, and reading sections. This ensured that the app remained highly impactful for the users. 

Target users gave the app an overwhelming and positive response after we made and launched the final changes. This brilliant outcome is the collective effort of team members from the ground up, especially the DRC. 

Below are some statistical improvements the app (Pauseitive) has experienced after considering and implementing the DRC’s recommendations: 

• Around 70% of users realized being productive after using task management systems.

• 55% of the employees feel less stressed after reading and listening to music.

• 65% of users admired the gratitude practices within our product. 

• The app has indirectly improved sleep quality.

Wrapping Up

The purpose of sharing this is to show our clients how dedicated we are to product design and quality. We take great pride in both. We focus on each step of our product development process to assess the final software from all angles. This helps us prevent defects.

With this meticulous approach, it’s no wonder Cubix is known for its top-notch quality development solutions that are designed and developed using the latest technologies and reach true market heights rapidly. For any queries about our processes, please contact us at Info.