A familiar problem space

One of the main things Prismatic wanted us to focus on were design systems that were flexible enough to deal with the content that flows through their system. This was, and continues to be a complex problem—one that we had a good deal of experience on. We were fresh off of working on Medium so this was all very top-of-mind. Plus, we had previously worked on design systems for Readability, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Tweetmag and a few others.

In addition to the technical challenges, these kinds of systems are awfully difficult to design for. Mikael, Nate, Francisco and Gina (a few of Prismatic’s designers) know this all too well. One of the biggest challenges here is that the ‘stuff’ you’re dealing with approaches infinity in terms of variability. Think about it: You need to design a system that works for every piece of content ever written in the past, but also has the flexibility to work with content that has yet to be written. At the same time you need to balance loads of UX elements and variables like interactions, commenting, what’s inside the system, what’s outside the system, media types, topics, summary abstracts, body, content source, your connection to the content, actions you can take or have taken etc. In the truest sense of the word, it’s awesome. Just when you think you have a solution, you realize there are half a dozen things that break it.

There are other considerations when designing systems like this too. Things like the length of headlines and the contrast of images and other media can play havoc with making everything work harmoniously. You constantly need to ask yourself: Does the content stand out enough? Are the right actions available at the right time? Are they obvious? Are the distinct pieces of content tied closely enough together to look like a continuous feed, but separate enough to look distinct? Can I scan it? Can I read it? Is the design ownable? Is it too generic? Does the design detract from the content? Does the design get in the way of the experience, or enhance it? Some days you walk away only understanding things that don’t work. Simultaneously, you gain a true appreciation and respect for the people behind those massive systems that so many designers love to hate on.