What McDonald’s Can Teach Us About Building Reusable UI Components

Introduction

McDonald’s is a globally recognized fast‑food chain that often staffs young workers, many of whom are part‑time college students. Observing their operations raises questions about how new staff can start working after minimal training and how the chain maintains consistent taste across locations. The answer lies in using pre‑made semi‑finished food items processed with fixed cooking times and methods, a concept that parallels the use of ready‑made UI components in design.

Basic Components Inspired by McDonald’s Production Model

Just as a prepared component can be dropped into a page to create a generic layout, McDonald’s distributes semi‑finished food to each outlet; employees simply follow preset parameters to finish the product. This approach speeds up service, ensures uniform flavor, and reduces errors, mirroring the role of basic UI components.

Basic components are applicable to all business scenarios and are designed for repeated use across multiple projects. They are relatively independent, easy to add to different projects, and require little customization. Examples include input fields, radio buttons, and other low‑level elements needed in both consumer‑facing (C‑end) and business‑facing (B‑end) applications across industries such as finance and e‑commerce. Designing and developing these components improves efficiency, reduces repetitive work, and guarantees consistency and stability. Designers only need to place the components and adjust copy.

Single and indivisible: e.g., an input box or a switch.

Applicable to all business scenarios: suitable for e‑commerce, finance, etc.

Ensures design quality and efficiency: unifies design drafts and enhances design‑development collaboration.

Business Components Inspired by Innovative Fries Variations

Business components, also called advanced or block components, are complex, reusable units composed of multiple UI elements and interactions. Unlike basic components, they operate at a higher abstraction level, addressing specific business needs and reflecting design system principles. While libraries like Ant Design provide some business components, designers often need to create tailored ones for their own products.

Using fries as an example, McDonald’s introduced variations such as spicy‑oil fries or mango‑scented ice cream to meet specific customer preferences. This illustrates how a base element can be combined with additional ingredients to form a business component that satisfies niche demands.

Key characteristics of business components:

Composite block components: collections of basic components forming tables, multi‑function cards, dropdowns, etc.

Targeted at professional business scenarios: strong business attributes, higher specificity, and greater efficiency.

Guarantee professional execution and efficiency: well‑designed business components empower faster, more reliable feature delivery.

Case Study: Designing Business Components at Work

In a recent internal smart‑operations platform, the team faced a poor user experience with a large‑data dropdown filter. Users complained that selecting an option from a massive list was time‑consuming, and a simple search feature was insufficient because users often could not recall exact attribute names.

The solution involved reorganizing the dropdown data, grouping attributes, and adding both search and filter capabilities. The data model included five attribute types: full, user, event, device, and app attributes. By providing grouped filters and searchable dropdowns, the component became a reusable business component for similar scenarios across the platform.

Final Thoughts

Both basic and business components aim to enhance user experience, reduce costs, and increase efficiency. Designers should deeply understand business requirements and attributes to create professional business components that complement product quality and empower B‑end design capabilities.