“In order for a style guide to be used, it has to be valuable and comfortable to use, yet most style guides are not tailored for anybody not closely familiar with the front end.”
I thought this article was pretty good on UI guidelines especially this bit…. Oh yeah this article is long.
Source: Taking pattern libraries to the next level | Smashing Magazine | Vitaly Friedman, Oct. 2016
These bits were cool too
“Over time, naming conventions seem to fail consistently across the board”
– This has been my experience with web publishing work flows
“A strong design is informed by a view of the big picture, an understanding of the context, and strong art direction — even at the cost of consistency or time.”
“Concrete interface examples drastically limit room for interpretation and misunderstanding”
Some nice points to sell the value of resourcing a style guide/pattern library
“Of course, it’s common to use a living style guide and to use Trello, JIRA, Slack and GitHub to sync and broadcast changes in the pattern library automatically, so that both designers and developers always have the most up-to-date version of it.”
– This remains a challenge in less front end focused organisations
“Every time we, as a community, see a large company release a brand new pattern library, we get excited and fascinated by the work done by internal teams to make it happen — simply because we know how hard it is to achieve. It’s an exercise in patience, tough design decision-making, resolution of bureaucratic issues and hard work. A brand new style guide is an unlocked achievement, and a vivid manifestation of a company’s design-driven leadership and desire for consistency.”
– This remains a challenge in less front end focused organisations
A good tip present the pattern library as a the solution to pain points. This assumes that customer feedback is collected and developers and designers maintain a back log.
“A good way to identify these pain points is by interviewing customer support and by looking into customer feedback logs and the backlog of the designers and developers. Present the pattern library as a solution to severe pain points — which it often will be anyway — and explain how the entire company would benefit from it.”
– Selling your pattern libary could be as simple as explaining it's benefits
“As unspectacular and predictable as it sounds, highlighting that a pattern library would drastically minimize complexity, save time and resources, reduce errors in code, design and communication, and keep product quality up might help.”