Design audit

1. WHAT WE DO

Design audit is not an “aesthetic review”, but a diagnosis of how design impacts business outcomes. Design is not only about “pretty or not”, it is about conversion, trust, speed of understanding, communication effectiveness, and brand perception across all touchpoints.

Most companies let design evolve chaotically. The product has grown, the team has changed, multiple agencies and freelancers have contributed “as needed”. As a result, interfaces live their own life, marketing materials another one, offline a third. People “recognize” the brand only by the logo – everything else has drifted apart.

Design Audit is our service for comprehensive design and UX evaluation. It shows the current state, identifies critical issues, and gives a clear improvement plan – not just “recommend”, but define what to do first, what to do later, and why it matters for the business.

What this includes

Brand & UX consistency audit: We check consistency of visual language and UX patterns: grids, typography, colors, icons, tone of communication, interaction patterns.

Product UI/UX review: We break down key user flows in the product: onboarding, search, purchase/subscription, profile, core features. We analyze clarity, cognitive load, friction points, and UX debt.

Website & landing pages audit: We analyze how design and structure of website/landing pages affect conversion: hierarchy, visual emphasis, forms, trust elements, mobile behavior.

Marketing & sales materials review: Presentations, sales decks, PDFs, ad creatives – how well they align with each other and with the product, and whether they undermine trust in the brand.

Offline & event touchpoints (when relevant): How the brand appears at events, in print, interior, packaging, POS materials.

Design system & processes: Whether there is a unified system: guidelines, components, Figma libraries, usage rules, and who actually makes design decisions.

Accessibility & usability basics: Contrast, font sizes, hit areas, clarity and accessibility across devices and scenarios.

Competitive & benchmark review: Comparison with direct competitors and best-in-class references: where you lag, where you can outperform, what practices are worth borrowing and what to avoid.

2. WHAT PROBLEMS WE SOLVE

• Fragmented visual style, different teams and vendors pull in their own direction, no common language.
• UX friction in key flows, registration, payment, or finding value is hard – conversion and revenue suffer.
• Low brand trust, interfaces and materials don’t live up to the promised level of product/price.
• Outdated or “patched” UI, years of compromises, hotfixes, and quick hacks lead to clutter and visual noise.
• No shared picture, everyone feels “something is off”, but no one can clearly articulate what exactly and where to start.
• Impossible to scale design, every new feature or channel adds more chaos because there is no system or principles.
• Taste-based debates instead of arguments, design decisions are made on “like/don’t like” instead of criteria and metrics.

3. WHY ALMA

1. Business-first, not “just pretty”

   We look at design through business outcomes: conversion, retention, trust, onboarding speed, acquisition cost. Recommendations are always tied to product and numbers.

2. Experience across product, brand, and communications

   ALMA works in product design, branding, and marketing. This gives a holistic view: we see the whole chain – from the first ad impression to the interface and investor deck.

3. European quality standard

   We aim for the level of European digital brands: clean typography, solid grids, controlled cognitive load, and professional visual craft.

4. Systems thinking

   For us, a design audit is always about the system: not “fix a couple of screens”, but understand how to make design evolve predictably and be manageable in the future.

5. Clear format for teams

   We speak the language of product, marketing, and C‑level. The report and recommendations work for designers (tactical level) and leadership (strategic level).

6. Realistic plan, not a “perfect world”

   We provide not only an ideal vision, but also a phased plan: what can be done in 2–4 weeks, what in a quarter, and what requires a deeper, systemic project.

4. OUR APPROACH

Phase 1: Alignment & goals

We align with key stakeholders: product, marketing, design, leadership. We fix audit goals: where it hurts, what metrics matter, what constraints exist in time/resources.

Deliverables: Audit Brief, Goals & Constraints, Key Flows/Assets List.

Phase 2: Inventory & data collection

We collect all relevant materials: product screens, prototypes, website, landing pages, decks, ad creatives, guidelines, analytics links (if available).

Deliverables: Design Inventory, Current State Map.

Phase 3: Expert review

We run expert evaluation across dimensions: visual language, UX patterns, brand consistency, accessibility, alignment with best practices and competitors.

Deliverables: Annotated Screens, Problem List, Thematic Clusters.

Phase 4: Synthesis & prioritization

We cluster findings by themes: brand, UI, UX, content, processes, system. We estimate business impact and implementation effort. We build a priority matrix.

Deliverables: Problem Matrix (impact vs. effort), Priority Roadmap, Key Themes.

Phase 5: Recommendations & roadmap

We prepare concrete recommendations: what exactly to change, how, on which screens/materials, what principles to introduce, which artifacts to create (guidelines, design system, new templates).

Deliverables: Design Audit Report, Actionable Recommendations, 30/60/90‑day Roadmap.

Phase 6: Handoff & workshop (optional)

We run a workshop with the team: walk through findings, explain rationale, answer questions, help embed recommendations into product backlog and marketing plans.

Deliverables: Workshop Session, Q&A, Adjusted Plan with Team Buy‑in.

CONCLUSION

Design audit is a point of honest diagnosis. It fixes your baseline, shows where you lose effectiveness because of design, and gives a clear “what to do next” picture.

ALMA treats audit as a design management tool – tied to business, product, and brand. For startups, scale-ups, and mature companies that want to stop patching and start managing design systematically, Design Audit is the right starting point.