Pixel perfect design approach

Go beyond our design tools and create customizations

Swift offers a great starting point for building websites through configuration, providing a close approximation of the desired design. However, achieving a true pixel-perfect design often requires customization. This guide outlines how to go from a configured design to a pixel-perfect implementation, focusing on identifying gaps, structuring tasks, and prioritizing customizations.

While the appeal of achieving a pixel-perfect design can be strong, it’s essential to question whether every customization is truly necessary. Customizing beyond the configured design can be both time-consuming and costly. The value of these customizations should be weighed against the potential business outcomes.

Will these changes strengthen your brand identity significantly or directly contribute to higher conversions and sales? In some cases, minor deviations from the mockup may have little to no impact on user experience or sales performance. Balancing aesthetics with practicality is key — focusing on high-impact elements may yield better results than pursuing perfection at all costs.

Customization decision model

To help make informed decisions on whether to customize or not, consider this simple model:

1. Identify the business value

   • Does this customization align with your brand identity?
   • Will it significantly improve the user experience?
   • Can it boost conversions or sales?

2. Evaluate the cost and effort

   • How much time and resources will the customization require?
   • Will it complicate future updates and maintenance?

3. Decide and prioritize

   • High Business Value & Low Effort = Proceed.
   • High Effort & Low Business Value = Defer or skip.
   • Moderate Business Value = Consider phased implementation.

The customizations come with a direct implementation cost - and will also add potential cost to future updates of Swift as these customizations can cause extra time to be needed when upgrading.

1. Analyze and detect the gap

The first step in creating a pixel-perfect design is to analyze and detect the differences between the configured design and the desired mockup or reference design. This includes:

1. Header and footer differences

   • Logo placement, navigation structure, and styling.
   • Footer layout, columns, and contact information styling.

2. Content elements

   • Differences in typography (font sizes, line height, font weights).
   • Button styles, image masks, and heading decorations.
   • Spacing and padding inconsistencies.

3. Page-specific differences

   • Product list pages: layout, filters, and product card design.
   • Product detail pages: image galleries, tabs, and product descriptions.
   • Checkout flows: form fields, validation messages, and progress indicators.
   • Forms: Form design, field organization, receipts.

4. Navigational elements and breadcrumbs

   • Styling, icons, and spacing adjustments.
   • New navigational structures.

2. Organize and break down customization tasks

After identifying the gaps, the next step is to organize and prioritize the customization tasks. Breaking the project into smaller, manageable tasks ensures efficiency and helps track progress.

First, categorize the customization tasks:

1. CSS customizations

   • Adjust typography, colors, and button styles.
   • Apply consistent spacing, padding, and margins.
   • Customize image styles (masks, borders, aspect ratios).

2. Razor template changes

   • Modify the markup structure for headers, footers, and content elements.
   • Update templates for specific pages (e.g., product lists, product detail pages).

3. Item type modifications

   • Add new fields to existing item types.
   • Create new item types to meet specific design requirements.

4. JavaScript enhancements (if necessary)

   • Add interactivity (e.g., custom sliders, animations).
   • Validate and manipulate form data.

Second, create a structured list of tasks and group them by priority:

1. High priority (Essential for launch)

   • Header and footer customization.
   • Key content elements (typography, buttons, image styles).
   • Product list and detail pages.

2. Medium priority (Recommended but can be postponed)

   • Breadcrumbs and navigational elements.
   • Minor spacing adjustments.

3. Low priority (Optional or for future phases)

   • Animations and advanced JavaScript interactions.
   • Rarely used page templates or elements.

3. Execute the customization

With a clear plan in place, start implementing the customizations. Please refer to the customization section of this documentation on how to customize each of these elements.

1. CSS customization

   • Use SCSS for more manageable and reusable styles.
   • Leverage Swift's built-in CSS variables for consistency.
   • Compile and test styles regularly to ensure consistency.

2. Razor template adjustments

   • Use Swift's simplified templates and add e.g. content layouts to change appearance of content.
   • Avoid modifying standard templates directly; extend or create new ones to remain upgradable.

3. Item type updates

   • Customize existing item types by adding fields - use DynamicWeb's 'Customize' feature for items for better upgradability.
   • Create new item types where necessary for extending the content model. Create belonging content layout templates to the new item types.

4. JavaScript customizations

   • Add or change behavior of Swift by adding custom JavaScript.

4. Prioritization and phased delivery

While aiming for pixel perfection, it’s crucial to focus on what delivers the most value. Consider breaking the project into phases:

• Phase 1: Essential customizations

  • Focus on delivering a functional and visually consistent design that covers the most critical elements.

• Phase 2: Enhancements

  • Add refinements such as animations, advanced interactivity, and secondary page customizations.

• Phase 3: Continuous improvement

  • Plan for regular updates and improvements based on user feedback and evolving design requirements.

Conclusion

Designing a pixel-perfect site in Swift involves a blend of configuration and targeted customizations. By systematically analyzing gaps, organizing tasks, and prioritizing changes, you can achieve a result that matches your vision while maintaining the flexibility and upgradability of the Swift framework. Remember, not everything needs to be done at once — focus on delivering value gradually and refining over time.