Inconsistency Audit

Purpose:

• Identify existing design inconsistencies across your products or services

• Create concrete evidence of why guidelines are necessary

• Prioritize which areas need immediate standardization

• Build a shared understanding of current design problems

Materials Needed:

• Screenshots of your current products/interfaces

• Printouts or digital access to these screenshots

• Sticky notes (different colors for different issue categories)

• Large wall space or digital whiteboard

• Markers and highlighters

Process:

01 Preparation (Before the workshop)

• Collect screenshots of various parts of your products/interfaces

• Include different platforms if applicable (web, mobile, etc.)

• Prepare a simple template for documenting inconsistencies

02 Documentation (30 minutes)

• Give each team member the screenshots (or access to products)

• Ask everyone to identify as many inconsistencies as possible

• Document each issue on a sticky note with:

  • What the inconsistency is

  • Where it occurs

  • Impact on user experience

  • Screenshot or reference

03 Categorization (20 minutes)

• Place all sticky notes on a wall/board

• Group similar issues together

• Create category labels such as:

  • Visual design (colors, typography, icons)

  • Interaction patterns (buttons, forms, navigation)

  • Content style (tone, terminology, instructions)

  • Layout and spacing

  • Responsiveness

  • Accessibility

04 Analysis (20 minutes)

• Count the number of issues in each category

• Discuss patterns and root causes

• Identify which inconsistencies occur most frequently

• Note which ones cause the most user confusion

05 Prioritization (20 minutes)

• Evaluate each category based on:

  • Frequency of occurrence

  • Impact on user experience

  • Visibility to users

  • Ease of standardization

• Create a prioritized list of areas needing guidelines

06 Documentation & Next Steps (15 minutes)

• Photograph or digitally capture the entire audit

• Summarize key findings and priorities

• Identify quick wins vs. long-term guideline needs

• Assign owners to begin drafting guidelines for top priority areas

Benefits:

• Creates objective evidence of design problems

• Builds collective awareness of inconsistency issues

• Provides concrete examples to reference when creating guidelines

• Helps focus limited resources on highest-impact guidelines first

• Creates a baseline for measuring improvement after guidelines implementation

This exercise works well early in the guidelines development process and provides valuable input for the more detailed guidelines creation work. The documented inconsistencies can serve as "before" examples when demonstrating the value of your new design guidance system.