Hiring a UI UX Design Company to design human experience means hiring “A Pro” to take that marketing strategy up a notch and impress your users like never before. This could be your product’s journey to a fresh and clean look with an awesome interface. But, what if you hire a wrong UI UX Design Company? It could cost you a lot! Time, money, energy and opportunity costs aside, It can also affect your goodwill and confidence in an effective UX. 

We all know that hiring a Design Company is not as easy as trying clothes and choosing one or tasting and checking the curry for salt. It is a much larger spectrum like your favourite biryani with the right spice blend and technique that makes every other version feel like pulao.

You might be a start-up or an established brand, but it might narrow down to the same problem. How do you know if the UI UX Design Company you hire is the right fit for your product and organisation?

We at Yellow Slice take this very seriously as we always strive to deliver the best to our customer. Thus, while we analyse if we could cater to a specific client, we would love it if you could also use the below pointers and assess our ability to serve you!

– YELLOW SLICE
UI UX Design Company  - Style of Work
UX agencies that you would come across would have a particular style of work.

Style of Work:

Most UI UX Design Companies that you would come across would have a particular style of work. Some would include a lot of graphics and typography, another might keep it classic, clean and simple while another would make it super quirky.

Thus, if you have something in your mind, do ensure that you analyse the UX Agency’s portfolio enough to assess their capacity to fit your style.

Past Clients:

There are multiple UX companies that have a style or method of functioning. One of the major drawbacks here is an extremely efficient UX companies unable to synchronise with the corporate culture and thus, doing a miserable job. 

It is essential that you, as a product owner, would want to review at certain stages and expect the agency to follow a decorum set by your company. In such a scenario, this is something that is utmost important that simply cannot be ignored.

If you wish to get a better experience for your product we are here to give you a strong hand. We at Yellow Slice believe in providing solutions at all levels be it design, research, development, and building design systems. A positive environment brings positive results.

– Priya Kavdia

Similarly, there could be instances where budding start-up would not be able to cope-up with a UX Agency that is extremely corporate in nature.

Thus, it is essential that you study the type of clients they have catered to. Was their working culture similar to yours? Was it a start-up, mid-sized firm or a listed company?

Get in touch with Yellow Slice for UI/UX Project

Testimonials:

A story about an experience is much worthier than a sheet of paper boasting about the agency.

Apart from just reading and believing the testimonials on the agency’s website or other media, look out for recommendations and opinions from within your network. Try to know more about the agency, such as: if the agency delivers as promised and in time, how do they react to improvisation and edits, and other aspects that you believe needs reassurance.

Price:

Price is not just affordability. It is also about value. Try to ascertain if the work being done does justice to the quoted price. 

Similarly, have a clear image as to what services are included in the mentioned price. Do take a detailed quote for what any other add ons or edits in the future would cost. One might want to be careful if they come across agencies that promise to make initial deliveries at extremely competitive prices, but charge exorbitantly high charges for anything outside of the decided scope. 

UX Design Process at UI UX Design Company
Focus on how the methods they use to research and understand the user needs, framework development, prototyping and usability testing.

Process:

It is okay to ask the design team about the process they follow. Not only does this help you to assess their ability and awareness, but also check if they are in line with your expectations.

However, a blunder that many organisations make is focusing too much on the UX agency’s process relating to visual designing and aesthetics. However, experience designing is much bigger than this. Focus on how the methods they use to research and understand the user needs, framework development, prototyping and usability testing.

One of the best ways to go about this is to understand their process. A firm with the ability to solve your problem should be able to explain the solution. If you happen to ask them for certain clarification about a particular step, they should be able to explain exactly how it is done.

Nonetheless, we need to remember that experience designing is a custom made service and needs customised processes. Thus, be open to minor tweaks and improvisations. 

Team:

UX Designing is not a one-man show. An effective UX design needs multiple people ranging from experience designing, graphics designer, web/ interface developer, UX researcher and someone with a deep understanding of consumer psychology. 

Thus, assess the team that will be working on your product. How many years of experience do they bring to the table? How do they react to ant edits or alterations? Have they worked on a similar project before?

At the same time, do ask for the availability of the project co-ordinator and evaluate your ease of working and communication with him.

Timelines:

Businesses are all about supplying the right product at the right time. Hitting the hammer while it is hot!

No business wants to wait and spend several labour hours on following up for deliverables. Thus, while you might ask in detail about the processes, also make sure that you are aware as to how much time each process would take. This will help to determine if work can be done as per your Plan of Action (PoA) as well as make other plans such as pre-launch events and marketing as per the set timelines.

Comfort Level at UX Design Company
Are you happy working with them? Do you feel welcome in their team?

Your Comfort Level with the Agency:

Satisfactory user experience is a result of a series of communication between the UX Agency and Product Team. Thus, outstanding user experience is difficult to achieve if the product in-charge is not comfortable working with the Agency.

Therefore, before finalising with an UI UX Design Company, evaluate if you are comfortable with the vibes of the agency. Will you be able to ask questions without any hesitation? Will they welcome your suggestions? Are you happy working with them? Do you feel welcome in their team?

Communication Level with Clients
LEFace to face communication would be preferred, it may not be practical at all times.

Communication:

Like mentioned before, communication is key when it comes to satisfactory experience design. It is essential that the mode of communication is something that allows both the parties to deliver their best.

You might also wish to consider the security encryption of the mode of communication to prevent any data or intellectual property threat. 

While face to face communication would be preferred, it may not be practical at all times. Thus, over and above the main mode of communications, do ascertain on an alternative mode of communication as well.

Work Culture in UX Agency
The culture a company follows can bring out the best in their employees and can be infectious enough to positively affect everyone.

Culture:

There is an extremely strong chance that while everything seems to be in the absolutely right order, the culture at the agency would be such that handicaps the efficiency of its employees. 

The culture a company follows can bring out the best in their employees and can be infectious enough to positively affect everyone. Thus, this enables even a fresher to come up with out of the box diagnostics and ideas that can take the product a long way.

Format of Deliverables:

When it comes to user experience designing, there are multiple elements such as web designing, graphic designing and app development that involve a lot of coding and other technicalities. Thus, any alteration to the surface would mean altering the main file. 

Hence, it is important to consider what formats will you receive your deliverables in. Will you gain access to the code? Will you receive the graphics and typography in CDR or illustrator format?

Ongoing Support:

Many interfaces need continuous improvisations. While many organisations with such needs opt for an in-house full time developer, it might not always be the most optimal choice. 

If you feel that you might have similar needs, opt for an agency which can provide continuous ongoing support. This eliminates the need to hire an in-house developer or approach and negotiate with an agency for every alteration.

Apart from this, do consider other aspects such as adequate field research, optimal focus on aesthetics and visual representation and do any hesitate to conduct any other due diligence that you feel the need for. 

Above and beyond everything, do ensure that both of your expectations are at par with each other.

FAQs For UI UX Design Company

Why should I hire a UI/UX Agency instead of a Freelancer?

You can hire both but hiring a UI/UX agency would prove to be the better option as there is a better process for how the project will be done. An agency would have a certain set of parameters they follow to complete projects and would have more stability when it comes to completion, whereas freelancing would lack a few of these abilities.

What are the requirements before hiring UX/UI Designer?

Before hiring UX/UI designer, it is important to understand their way of handling projects and whether you are comfortable with their methods. You could also check out their portfolio to understand their work better and further discuss project handling.

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Author

Pursued Communication design specialized in UX/UI design. His love for sketching, doodles, technology, and communication through storytelling with help of visual aids have always driven him to be a creative geek. For him, photography, playing with fonts, exploring different archives on typeface specimens, and reading become the next companion in his spare time.