01
Putting people first
We talk to the people who will use the service and to those who will run it every day, to understand how they work now and what they need. We bring users' needs and business goals together before deciding how to build.
Research and design
We design interfaces around the people who will use them, with interviews, analysis and prototypes you can try before any code is written. Then we gather them into a Design System together with your visual identity, so your brand, website and applications stay consistent as they grow. For us, design is a system that evolves over time, not an image to hand over.
User research
Through interviews, analysis and wireframes, we work out who will use the service and what they need.
In new projects, research runs alongside defining the first version. On portals that are already live, it becomes part of further development whenever the way their users work is changing.
Prototypes and interfaces
Before development starts, we build clickable prototypes in Figma, so you can move between the screens and decide what to keep before anything becomes code.
The final interface takes shape from the approved prototype.
Design System
We gather the interface components into a single system that lives in the code. With a React and Next.js frontend, your website, app and logged-in area can all be built from the same components and stay consistent.
When we work on a monolithic Drupal, we still build the interface from components, using Single Directory Components. That way the interfaces can evolve without touching the software architecture.
Visual identity
We also design logos and visual identities as standalone projects, conceived from the outset as the foundation of a system. Colours, typefaces and shapes are ready to become components once the website and applications arrive.
We did this for bmeme and for DrupalCamp Italy.
What is human-centred design?
Human-centred design is an approach to design that aims to make interactive systems more usable by focusing on how they are used. This is how the ISO 9241-210:2019 standard describes it.
It is the term that Don Norman preferred to ‘user-centred design’ – a concept he pioneered in 1986 and which many still use today. It means starting with the people who will use a service, what they need to do and the context in which they do it, involving users throughout the project and repeating testing and refinements as often as necessary.
How we work, from interviews to components
02
Review together, in rounds
We work on prototypes in rounds of comments and revisions. You and your team try them out and comment on them, then we revise them and bring them back to you. Each round narrows the field and makes clearer what goes into the first version, until there is little left to fix and a lot to build.
03
From Design System to code
Approved screens become components of the Design System, which we then turn into code. While we design and develop them, we also check accessibility, with automated tools and manual checks.
04
Deliver and grow
Each milestone ends with a delivery to a test environment, together with the design assets and documentation. We review it with you, and it only goes into production once you give the go-ahead. Then the system grows, with new screens and new applications built on the same components.
We designed bmeme's own Design System too
With the rebrand we began in 2024, we designed bmeme's identity, logo, symbols and Design System. The portal you are reading uses them and is decoupled, with Directus for the content and Next.js for the pages.
It's the same path we propose to the people who work with us, from an identity to a system and then to a portal that grows one piece at a time.
Interfaces and identities we have designed
Logo design, Brand identity
DrupalCamp Italy
We designed the logo and visual identity of DrupalCamp Italy, the Italian Drupal community's conference, which we have organised with other companies since its first edition in 2025.
Drupal, Monolitich, UX & UI , Continuous Integration, Operations
Feel Florence
In 2024 we rebuilt the tourism portal of the Comune di Firenze, the City of Florence's administration, on Drupal. We redesigned its interface for smartphones first, so tourists can find their way around it easily. We check its accessibility with MAUVE++.
Brand identity, Logo design
Bmeme Brand identity
Our new visual identity emerged from a thorough and essential process of finding a consistent language to express who we are and how we work.
We sought a balance between rigor and personality, avoiding mannerist aesthetic solutions, and developed a visual system that reflects our approach, values, and culture.
The result is an authentic, readable, and solid identity that reflects who we are today while leaving room for who we can become.
Drupal, Monolitich, Operations, Continuous Integration
The Department for Public Administration - Italia Open Gov
Between 2021 and 2022 we designed the interface of open.gov.it, building on another company's user research and a more open reading of the guidelines of AgID, Italy's digital agency.
We also developed the whole portal on Drupal.
Accessibility, checked as we design
The legal duty to make a portal accessible lies with its owner: under the European Accessibility Act for private companies and under the Legge Stanca, Italy's accessibility law, for public sector bodies.
We check accessibility while we design and develop.
Components designed to WCAG 2.1 AA
WCAG 2.1 AA and the European standard EN 301 549 are the technical reference for Italy's legal requirements. We take them into account as soon as we design the components, so every new page starts from a base that has already been checked.
Checking with MAUVE++
We use MAUVE++, the validator from CNR-ISTI, an institute of CNR, Italy's National Research Council. The laboratory has given us access to it for our projects. With MAUVE++ we have checked, among others, the portals of the Corpo Nazionale dei Vigili del Fuoco, Italy's national fire and rescue service, of Feel Florence and of the Comune di Firenze's Rete civica.
A digital project succeeds when we know who we're building it for and which decisions it needs to help people make. That's why we start from the people who will use it, before the code.
Who does research and design at bmeme
A Design System isn't needed for a single landing page or for a site that won't evolve. We'll tell you before we start.
Frequently asked questions about research and design
Can we start from a prototype?
Yes. A clickable prototype in Figma lets you see and try the main screens before development. It also helps you decide what goes into the first version and what can wait.
How do we keep our website, app and logged-in area consistent?
With a Design System. The interface components sit in a single system in the code and every application reuses them, so a change is made once and then carried over to the applications that use it.
Who helps us work out what to build, before deciding how?
We do it together. After a first call we gather our ideas into several scope plans, each setting out the boundaries of one objective: what users and the business need, and what goes into the first version. Interviews and prototypes then help you choose where to start.
Do you design logos and visual identities too?
Yes, including as standalone projects. We design them with an eye to the moment they become the foundation of a system for the website and applications, as we did for bmeme and for DrupalCamp Italy.
Does our website have to be accessible by law?
It depends on who you are and what you offer. Public sector bodies fall under the Legge Stanca, which also applies to private companies that offer services to the public and have had average turnover above €500 million over the last three years. Other private companies fall under the European Accessibility Act for products and services such as e-commerce, banking services and transport, with microenterprises excluded. The obligation remains with the portal's owner. We check accessibility while we design and develop.
Can we start small?
Yes. We work towards a first version and then build on it step by step. Once the project has started, the execution roadmap sets the milestones, usually monthly. Each one ends with a delivery you can see and use.