Microsoft
Thanks for your response. You ask "Is there anything else we should be aware of when it comes to respecting branding style? If you don't mind me asking, what is the most disruptive element of our current suggestions?"
Our Branding guidelines will include a specific colour set, how and where we use our logo, fonts, etc - pretty standard guidelines that you can find here: https://prdsitecore93.azureedge.net/-/media/files/contact-or-visit-us/advertise-with-us/visualidentityguidelines33mb.pdf?rev=b6269ec00ef545ef91abaded8adf33af&hash=FB363EFE272DD6D19C01170E11F474E7
Like most guidelines, people won't read them! Even for those that do, there is little value in them spending their time trying to make a site comply as opposed to just using one that has been done for them. And that assumes they would know how to make the changes, which won't be the case for most users. As such, we need to give users a choice of one or two designs that we have created to meet the guidelines.
In addition, as per good UX practices, we don't want users to have to think and work out how each individual site works. The look and feel need to be the same, with common elements in the same place on every site. This is not only more efficient for the user but builds confidence as the site is familiar to them even if they haven't visited it before. If these concepts are not widely understood by product teams at Microsoft, may I very politely suggest sharing some copies of Steve Krug's "Don't Make Me Think, Revisited"? It only takes a few hours to read. It may be 10 years old but has stood the test of time.
The most disruptive element of your current suggestions is that it will not allow me to turn off all the designs we don't want and only show the custom ones we do want.
