So what is the return on investment for implementing a UI library project in an organization?
There are three main organizational benefits of having a UI library. First, it brings consistency to web applications. If your organization has multiple products, you want them to look very similar in order for customers to quickly associate them with your company. Disjointed user experiences damage your brand and marketing investments. Second, a UI library brings forth reusability for design pieces. Developers will be able to reuse the styles, animations, and components across different web application products, cutting downtime on meetings to get features approved and released to production. Third, the user experience is standardized. The company invests in codifying the look, feel, and experience that the users of the product absorb and interact with.
So dollar-wise, how beneficial is it? Well, it depends. It can be hard to quantify. But I usually estimate it will save them up to 50% of the operational cost they are incurring today (with no UI library). They are saving developer hours by eliminating work duplication, which is a huge time-waster, and a UI library also eliminates lack of coherence. If everybody understands how the UI will look and feel, developers can focus on the difficult problems of structuring data and efficient delivery to multiple client devices around the world.
In summary, the main benefits are:
- Consistency across products
- Reusability for feature development
- Standardization for user experience
If you are an Executive or Director at an organization, you as a leader should see a UI library as extremely valuable. It is worth the investment as it helps streamline the application lifecycle from the presentation perspective, and it boosts developer morale by having a consistent set of rules and guidelines they can reference to create features by bringing things together like Lego pieces. If you need expert advice and guidance in implementing a UI library in your organization, please reach out to me to find out if we are a good match to work together.
