Unlocking the Power of Atomic Design: Building Better Product UX

Intro

Atomic design is a methodology for creating design systems that promote modular and scalable user interfaces. It was introduced by Brad Frost in 2013 and has since become a popular approach in product design.

The Atomic Design Principles

At its core, Atomic design is based on five fundamental principles:

Atoms: Atoms are the building blocks of a design system. They represent the most minor and basic UI elements, such as buttons, inputs, and icons.
Molecules: Molecules are combinations of atoms that form more complex UI components. For example, a search form comprising an input field and a button would be considered a molecule.
Organisms: Organisms are groups of molecules that work together to form a section or a page module. They are more complex and can include things like headers, navigation bars, and sidebars.
Templates: Templates provide the overall structure and layout for a page. They define the placement and arrangement of organisms and other components.
Pages: Pages are specific instances of templates that represent actual content. They are the final output of the design process and include actual data and images.

Benefits of Atomic design

Using Atomic design principles offers several benefits:

Consistency: Atomic design promotes consistency by providing a systematic approach to building UI components. Designers and developers reuse atoms, molecules, and organisms across projects, ensuring a consistent look and feel.
Scalability: Atomic design allows for easy scalability. As the design system grows, new components are created by combining existing atoms, molecules, and organisms. This modular approach makes maintaining and updating the system easier over time.
Efficiency: By breaking down the design process into smaller, manageable components, Atomic design enables teams to work more efficiently. Designers focus on creating atoms and molecules, while developers assemble them into organisms and templates.
Collaboration: Atomic design encourages cooperation between designers and developers. Both teams work together to create and maintain the design system, ensuring that the final product meets aesthetic and technical requirements.

Implementing Atomic design

To implement Atomic design, it's essential to follow a few key steps:

Define your atoms: Identify your design system's smallest and most basic UI elements. These could include buttons, inputs, typography styles, and color palettes.
Build your molecules: Combine your atoms to create more complex UI components once you have your atoms. For example, you could combine a button atom with a text input atom to create a search form molecule.
Assemble your organisms: Group your molecules together to form larger sections or modules of your UI. This could be a header organism, a navigation bar organism, or a product card organism.
Create your templates: Design your screens' overall structure and layout by arranging your organisms. Templates provide the framework for your content and define how different components fit together.
Generate your pages: Create specific instances of your templates by adding real content and data. These pages represent the final output of your design system and are used as a starting point for building websites or applications.

Wrapping up

Atomic design is a robust methodology for creating scalable and modular design systems. Breaking down the design process into smaller components promotes consistency, scalability, efficiency, and collaboration. Whether you're a designer or a developer, incorporating Atomic design principles significantly enhances your workflow and helps you create better user experiences.

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My flexible pricing model

Working with traditional freelancer/agency pricing can get complicated. My pricing model is simpler.

Simply hire me by the month at a fixed cost.

Need to pause the work? That’s fine. Since there aren’t any long-term contracts, we can pick things up later when the time is right.

Schedule a consultation call to discuss my specific rates, go over any questions you have, and walk through the next steps.

Prefer email instead? Reach out to me at hello@timhaskins.design

A little about me

With deep roots in brand, design, and technology, I specialize in delivering best-in-class UX & UI. I've done this for hundreds of companies around the globe over the past 25 years.

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Client history

I've worked with many types of clients worldwide. From small startups all the way up to Nike, Adidas, Xerox, Williams-Sonoma, and Lowe's — to name a few.

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My purpose

Everything I do is centered around helping people live fuller lives — a driver for what gets me up each morning. That can take many shapes, such as pro-bono work for non-profits, mentoring other designers, or designing products that impact lives.

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Life-altering moment:

In 2015, I suffered a life-altering traumatic brain injury and lost my ability to do much of anything. Without the ability to fully comprehend language, living with constant vertigo and depression, and the loss of my creative problem-solving skills — my life was turned upside down.

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Fast-forward to today. I consider myself one of the lucky few who fully recovered from an injury like that. I have a deeper appreciation for life now; from mundane tasks to relationships to my craft — which shows in the quality of my work.

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My superpowers

Translating strategy into a marketable product, simplifying the complex, pinpointing a person's hidden pain, and breathing new life into outdated UIs.

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Additional facts:

I live in Portland, Oregon, once had a 30-person design agency for over a decade, launched my own SaaS products, and am raising 3 boys (the latter being the hardest but most rewarding!)

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FAQ

Do you have a team of people or is it just you?

When we work together, I will be the one designing your product and your sole point of contact.

My ideal client prefers working with an individual rather than an agency or team. They want someone experienced who focuses on their project and communicates directly with them — without the bureaucracy or cost of a large team.

From time to time, I'll bring in additional specialists to the project for unique deliverables like branding, illustration, animation, etc. In those cases, I will direct the creative and ensure it's on-brand and at the quality I'm known for.

What is your pricing model?

My pricing model is based on a monthly engagement rather than an hourly rate or a long-term project contract. My clients love this model because they don’t get nickel-and-dimed for changes or feel beholden to a woefully outdated contract.

As you’ve likely experienced, when building a product there are multiple changes, discoveries, and pivots that can occur. That requires a flexible pricing model that can ebb and flow with you.

Within my model, I offer four pricing tiers, starting at $1,500/month (USD). You choose from one of the monthly pricing tiers depending on the amount of work and types of deliverables needed in that given month.

Can you work within a fixed budget amount?

While my model is based on a monthly engagement to optimize my client’s budgets, I have made exceptions in the past. Some of my clients have had fixed budgets that they need to work within, and in certain cases, I can work within that structure. Let’s talk more about your situation and see if it will work.

How happy are your clients?

What tells me my clients are happy (and see value in my work) is that I have 100% client repeat rate — something I strive for — which is reflected in my approach, style, and work ethic.

This means that every client has come back a second time to continue our work together. They wouldn’t do that if they didn’t see value or weren’t happy.

How do you manage projects and communication?

I use a platform called ClickUp to manage and communicate project updates. It also hosts documentation, Gantt charts, and Kanban boards.

Slack is the primary communication tool for me and my clients, though I can potentially use other tools like Teams.

Often my clients have their own platforms, like Jira, Monday, or Trello. I’ve used those and many others and am happy to explore what it would look like for me to use your tools.

What do you deliver?

What I deliver can vary depending on your needs. The most common deliverables are flow diagrams, wireframes, and dev-ready Figma design files (including Design System documentation.)

Secondary deliverables include items such as interactive prototypes, animated UI concepts, custom icons, and audits/user research documentation.

Do you specialize in our industry?

Over the past 25 years, I have worked in dozens of industries versus specializing in just one. My ideal client values this because they want fresh ideas and someone thinks differently. They want their product to be unique and innovative, not follow the same tired strategies.

When we collaborate, I take a deep dive into your business and industry, understanding it thoroughly. This way, I can provide insights that significantly enhance your product's design and user experience.

We need designs yesterday — can you help us?

I hear this often and I totally get it. You have a real sense of urgency and could already be behind on your goals due to one factor or another.

As you’ll see, I can turn around designs very quickly and we can get some quick wins if need be. But to make a product that really stands out, one that meets your goals, and users love, takes time, thought, and research. And while I do have a thorough process for getting us there, my process is designed to be flexible for getting quick wins and long-term success.

Why wouldn’t we just hire a cheap designer from one of those freelancer sites?

Sure, you can hire a designer on platforms like Fiverr or Upwork, but they likely won’t meet your expectations and you’ll typically get what you pay for.

Some clients I've spoken to tried that route before working with me. They found that the design quality was not up to par, and the designers mainly followed instructions without offering innovative ideas. It’s a gamble.

My clients need someone who will deeply engage with their project, show enthusiasm for their product, and propose creative solutions, rather than simply executing tasks as instructed.