A design that follows standards will allow its user to easily transfer their mental model established in previous interaction to this new product. But that also puts constraints on brand identity. Also, I think you need a "sovereign" application to build new standards because people need repeats to remember the difference and cues in the new environments will be needed to retrieve those memories. Just like people can be comfortable with different operation systems, windows users use Ctrl-C for a copy while mac users press Command instead, and for Linux users, Ctrl-C kills an ongoing process.

Things are more complex when doing implementation than design. Standard components are not only for the good of manufacturing but also for easy installation so that the components are suitable for most situations, affordable and electricians require minimum training. Engineers care more about how to make things functional while designers are more familiar with users and care more about how to make things useable and useful. This is why they need to cooperate. This reminds me that I was required to use some sophisticated softwares, usually a simulator when studying electronics. Almost none of these software well designed. I think it's because engineers who developed such software care much less about its appearance and interaction than the performance of speed and accuracy. Also, such software often involves hundreds of different variations, components, and controls that needed to be arranged properly, which make the design itself to be extremely tough. At the same time, if you turn to professional designers for help, they often lack the robust background knowledge to produce a good product for engineers. Currently, our solution to this dilemma is "get used to it", but I believe engineers can potentially be more efficient in working with some better designed digital tools.