In an increasingly complex digital landscape, aligning customer experiences across platforms isn’t just a challenge—it’s a necessity. At UXDX USA 2024, Aadi Deshpande (VP of Engineering) and Anthony Padronaggio (Design Manager) from Priceline shared how their team tackles this through Server-Driven UI (SDUI). By fostering collaboration, rethinking design foundations, and embracing governance, Priceline is transforming the way users interact with their platform.

What happens when your app and web platforms fail to deliver consistent experiences?

For Aadi and Anthony of Priceline, it’s a scenario they know all too well. Picture this: a loyal user interacts with a web product, growing accustomed to its features and nuances, only to be disappointed when switching to the app. That disconnect can be the difference between retaining a user or losing them to competitors.

At UXDX, Aadi and Anthony went into how Priceline bridges the gap across platforms, delivering unified and seamless experiences for their users. Their secret? A strategic approach leveraging Server-Driven UI (SDUI). Let’s explore how their team has redefined the playbook for cross-platform design.

The Challenge: Aligning Expectations Across Platforms

Aadi kicked off their session with a relatable anecdote about his own experience as a user of the Wall Street Journal. As a loyal reader, he enjoyed both their web and app platforms—until he realized that features available on one were missing from the other. This lack of parity left him frustrated and disengaged.

For Priceline, the stakes are even higher. The platform serves millions of users across web, iOS, and Android devices, each with unique user expectations and operating system constraints. Adding to the complexity are disparate design systems and development processes, leading to fragmented user experiences.

"We’re setting expectations on one platform and subverting them on another," Aadi noted. The result? A lack of trust and diminished user loyalty.

The Solution: Server-Driven UI (SDUI)

To address this challenge, Priceline adopted Server-Driven UI (SDUI), a framework that allows interfaces and interactions to be managed centrally on the server while executing locally on client devices. This approach reduces duplication, accelerates feature rollouts, and ensures consistency across platforms.

What is SDUI? Simply put, SDUI enables developers to control the user interface from the server, delivering design and interaction updates without requiring app updates. This is particularly valuable for maintaining parity between web and app platforms, where development cycles often differ.

“SDUI creates uniformity around control and management of the experience,” Anthony explained. This allows Priceline to reduce the friction between teams working on different platforms while delivering cohesive experiences to users.

Foundations First: Aligning Design Systems

Implementing SDUI wasn’t just a technological change—it required rethinking the very foundations of Priceline’s design system.

Start with the Basics - Aadi and Anthony emphasized the importance of aligning foundational elements such as naming conventions, documentation, and shared components. For example, inconsistencies in something as simple as shadow effects across web, iOS, and Android can create jarring experiences for users.

"If you’re not aligning your foundations, these small differences can needle in and undermine the user experience," said Anthony.

By creating a unified design language and shared documentation, Priceline ensured that designers and developers had a common framework to work from, regardless of their platform.

Governance: The Key to Long-Term Success

Once the foundational elements were aligned, the next challenge was maintaining that consistency over time. Enter governance.

Drawing inspiration from The Martian—where astronaut Mark Watney survives by adhering to NASA’s strict standards—Anthony highlighted how governance at Priceline ensures alignment across teams and products.

"Governance provides the guardrails that prevent us from veering off course," he noted. Whether it’s a designer proposing a new feature or a PM prioritizing a product launch, governance helps streamline decision-making and ensures that every change supports the broader system.

Governance isn’t about stifling creativity; it’s about enabling it. By providing clear processes and standards, Priceline empowers teams to innovate within a structured framework.

Collaboration: A Culture Shift

Implementing SDUI required more than just aligning tools and processes—it demanded a culture shift. Designers, developers, and product managers needed to move beyond their silos and adopt a more holistic approach to user experience.

Breaking down silos, traditionally, platform-specific teams at Priceline focused on their own priorities, leading to fragmented user journeys. With SDUI, these teams had to come together, collaborate, and co-create solutions that worked across platforms.

Support systems for change. To ease this transition, Priceline introduced support systems for designers and developers. Junior team members were paired with senior mentors to bridge knowledge gaps, ensuring that everyone could adapt to the new workflows.

"Change is implicit in this culture shift," Deshpande remarked. By fostering open communication and providing the necessary support, Priceline created an environment where teams felt empowered to embrace SDUI.

Validating Success Through A/B Testing

One of the key takeaways from Priceline’s approach was their commitment to continuous improvement. Before rolling out any changes, they tested their decisions rigorously through A/B testing.

"We’re an A/B testing culture at Priceline," Anthony shared. This iterative approach allowed them to validate alignment decisions, ensuring they delivered tangible value to users.

When something didn’t work, the team returned to the table, refined their approach, and tested again. This relentless focus on validation ensured that every change contributed to a better user experience.

The Impact: A Unified Vision for the Future

By embracing SDUI, aligning design systems, and fostering collaboration, Priceline achieved significant improvements in how they deliver user experiences. The benefits extended beyond just the user interface:

• Faster Feature Rollouts: SDUI enabled Priceline to launch features simultaneously across web and app platforms, reducing time-to-market.
• Improved User Trust: Consistency across platforms helped rebuild user trust, ensuring that expectations were met regardless of where users interacted with Priceline.
• Empowered Teams: With clear governance and aligned goals, teams felt more connected and engaged in their work.

But perhaps the most significant outcome was the cultural transformation within Priceline. By adopting a customer-centric mindset, the organization positioned itself to adapt to the ever-changing demands of the digital landscape.

Key Takeaways

1. Invest in Foundations: Aligning design systems at the foundational level ensures consistency and scalability.
2. Embrace Governance: Clear processes and standards prevent misalignment and enable long-term success.
3. Foster Collaboration: Breaking down silos and supporting cross-functional teams is essential for implementing cultural change.
4. Validate Decisions: Continuous testing and iteration ensure that every change delivers value to users.

As Aadi and Anthony emphasized, SDUI isn’t just a technical solution—it’s a strategic framework for building seamless and scalable user experiences. For organizations grappling with cross-platform challenges, Priceline’s journey offers valuable insights into how to navigate the complexity and come out stronger on the other side.

You can watchthe full talk here: