How to Outsource a UX/UI Design in 2024: Product Owner Guide

The decision to outsource your UI/UX design projects can be cost-effective and efficient. If you are a product owner and don’t have a good UI/UX designer on your team but don’t want to go through all the hiring hustle and bustle, then starting to outsource UI UX design services for your company is a great solution. This will be an effective way to quickly iterate designs and products in the early stages (if it’s a startup) or on others when your product needs some improvement.

ProCoders will explain the best ways to outsource UI/UX design in this guide, what you should consider before outsourcing, how you should approach the hiring process, and how you can avoid hiring an unprofessional UI/UX designer who wouldn’t know the latest design trends (which will lead to the non-satisfaction among your future users). Let’s start!

Custom UX/UI Design Outsourcing: Trends in Product Development 2023-2024

Businesses must use creativity to garner attention and convert web visitors into customers. Before moving to the main part, let’s consider the leading UI/UX design trends relevant to outsource product development in 2023-2024:

• Dark mode in apps. The primary benefit of dark themes is that, especially at night or in low light, they feel calm, making users’ eyes less tired. They also use less battery power.

• Parallax scrolling disappears. Many websites will progressively discontinue employing parallax scrolling in 2024. It is no longer fashionable and is an outdated feature!

• Voice User Interface (VUI). Users find this feature convenient to obtain information.

• Large font size. it is much more legible than small ones, creating a sense of space around the text that makes a page seem less crowded.

• 3D elements. They will enhance usability, add originality to the design, and become a part of the website’s or page’s graphic design.

Business Value of Outsourcing Digital Design Services

User Interface Design is an essential part of any business. It can not only make your website more attractive but also result in the following:

Creating The Best User Experience**

Better user experience means that people who visit your website or app can easily find the information or function they came for. As a result, they spend less time figuring out how to use your solution and more time actually using it. This, in turn, contributes to customer satisfaction.

Retaining Clients And Attracting New

If your website looks outdated, visitors may assume that your business is closed. Also, the may consider using your competitor’s services if the website loads slowly compared to other market players. A good User Interface Design and its professional implementation can make all the difference in attracting new clients and retaining existing ones.

Improve the LTV

The LTV (Lifetime Value) is one of the most important metrics for any business. It helps you understand how much it costs to acquire a customer and how much you can expect to make from them in the long run.

4 Things to Consider Before Outsourcing UI and UX?

Before UI design outsourcing, you need to complete the following tasks to make sure you will get the best result, including PSD to WordPress conversion:

Decide how the process should look like.

It can be difficult to know what to look for if you haven’t outsourced design work before. You can think about such engagement models as Time&Materials contracts or Fixed Price.

Consider the industry experience.

When looking for an outsource UX design team, looking to hire UX/UI designers and developers with relevant industry experience is important. If you are a company in the commercial sector, for example, hiring a designer who has only worked on banking applications may not be the best fit for your needs. In contrast, a designer with experience creating user interfaces and experiences for other commercial companies will likely better understand your industry and its unique challenges. You can benefit from their insights and ideas by working with a designer with experience in your industry. They can offer solutions that may not have occurred to someone without that experience.

Define the time for the project.

Remember: even if you need your project to be completed within a specific time frame, the final decision is always made by a designer as they are specialists in this sphere. They can estimate how much time every stage would take and which difficulties may appear during the work.

If you need all work done before a certain deadline, consider hiring more specialists in your design team. At ProCoders we have highly experienced designers, who’ll speed up your project development. Contact us to check their availability!

Set your budget.**

This can give you a better idea of what kind of experience level designers you can afford and whether they’ll meet your expectations within the constraints of your budget. If you’re unsure how to optimize your budget, ProCoders can help you plan it based on the project’s needs. This will occur as part of our Discovery Phase – a full development plan of your future site/app.

How to Outsource UX Design Step by Step

Step 1: Research and Identify Potential Partners**

Start by checking out freelancer platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and Toptal to find qualified UX/UI designers. For a broader selection, look into design agencies on platforms such as Clutch, Dribbble, or Behance, where you can compare portfolios and reviews. Recommendations from trusted colleagues or case studies from agencies with solid client testimonials can also point you in the right direction.

Step 2: Evaluate Portfolios and Previous Work

Review portfolios and past projects to see if potential designers match your vision and project requirements. Look for experience in:

• user-centered design

• responsiveness

• user experience

These are key to successful UX/UI outcomes. A track record of similar projects will give you more confidence in their ability to meet your needs.

Step 3: Conduct Interviews

Interview candidates or agencies to learn more about their design process, communication preferences, and availability. Ask about their experience with projects like yours and how they handle feedback and revisions. Understanding their approach will give you a sense of how well they’ll collaborate with your team.

Step 4: Set Clear Expectations

From the start, define:

• all project deliverables

• deadlines

• performance expectations

Establish milestones for each phase of the project and agree on timelines for reviews and adjustments. Clear points for your collaboration will help avoid misunderstandings and make the project progress smooth.

Step 5: Establish a Design Brief

Create a design brief that includes:

• brand guidelines

• target audience

• user personas

• design goals

• any other requirements for the project

This brief will serve as the roadmap for the design team, ensuring they stay on track!

Step 6: Define the Workflow and Project Management Approach

Agree on the project management methodology (such as Agile or Waterfall) that suits the project’s needs. Decide on the tools you’ll use to track tasks and monitor progress, like:

• Trello

• Jira

• Asana

Schedule regular check-ins and design reviews to stay updated and provide feedback throughout the project.

UX/UI Design Outsourcing Tips and Best Practices

Foster Clear Communication

Keep communication open and consistent throughout the project to. Make sure to address concerns if there are any. Use video calls, messaging apps, and shared design tools to stay connected with your outsourced team regularly.

Provide Constructive Feedback

Offer timely, full feedback at each stage of the design creation. Tools like Figma or InVision can help you annotate and comment on designs directly, making feedback clearer and easier to act on. Communication is key!

Focus on Collaboration

Treat your outsourced team as an integral part of your own. Encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing to foster a smooth workflow, and you’ll have more chances to succeed with your project.

Set Realistic Deadlines

Check if your deadlines are achievable, factoring in time zone differences and potential project challenges. Reasonable deadlines give the team enough time to produce high-quality work without rushing. And no rush often means better quality.

Build a Long-Term Relationship

If the outsourced team meets expectations, consider establishing a long-term partnership for future projects or ongoing design needs. This can save time and resources on onboarding new teams in the future.

Challenges of Outsourcing UX/UI and How to Overcome Them

Communication Barriers

Challenge: Miscommunication or misunderstandings due to language or cultural differences.
Solution: Use clear, concise language and communicate frequently. Implement structured communication processes and check-ins to ensure clarity and prevent confusion.

Time Zone Differences

Challenge: Collaboration can be challenging when teams work in different time zones.
Solution: Set overlapping work hours for essential meetings and use project management tools to keep progress visible and on track asynchronously.

Quality Control

Challenge: Ensuring the outsourced team meets your quality standards.
Solution: Review portfolios and request work samples before starting. Provide ongoing feedback and have regular check-ins to monitor quality and ensure standards are met.

IP and Data Security

Challenge: Protecting intellectual property and sensitive data when working with external teams.
Solution: Sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) and ensure the team follows best practices for data security to safeguard your information.

Costs Gains for Your Product with UI/UX Design Outsourcing

The ideal course of action would be to outsource UI UX development services to countries with cheaper per-hour costs than your own. Central Europe, as an example. Depending on the organization’s size and experience level, this location has hourly wages between $25 and $50 for UI/UX designers, which helps you with choosing the right outsourcing partner.

Based on this table, you can see that by Choosing a UX/UI design company to outsource from Central Europe (Estonia, Romania, Poland) for user experience design outsourcing, you can save more than 50% of your budget compared to the USA or the UK. At the same time, the quality of the service provided will be the same.

How Can ProCoders Assist You in Outsourcing a UI/UX Designer?

As we have mentioned before, as a product owner, you may have more important tasks than studying UI/UX design on your own to find high-quality designers. In this case, it would be better for you to call for professional help. However, what if we tell you that you can consider not only outsource UI design team?
This is where ProCoders, with our outstaffing service, comes into play. We can offer you two services: Discovery Phase and Staff Augmentation to help you stick to your needs and develop your product better.

Staff Augmentation

This outstaffing option is most suitable when a company has a product owner, lead designer, or visioner (i.e., who will control and understand the product, how it should look, how responsive it should be, what functions it should cover, etc.). In this case, Staff Augmentation will be appropriate if you need more “hands” to do many tasks simultaneously to stick to the deadlines. Besides, you will always have an opportunity to contact a designer responsible for your product.

Discovery Phase

This option is suitable when you have a startup or need to develop a new design for your existing project. Discovery Phase is better for those who do not have a clear product vision or an employee who is responsible for it.

During the UX Discovery Process, our professional designers, a business analyst, and a Project Manager will discover the best design for your product. In the beginning, you will give us your requirements. Then we work on them and determine if we have any suggestions, which we consider suitable for your project.

After that, we at ProCoders will also look at your competitors’ apps and see whether your solution needs any tweaks to be better than others.

Based on this, we create a detailed development plan for you, which includes the entire design process, from the first draft to the final design layout.

This layout will serve as a blueprint for your project and can be used by your in-house team, other user experience outsourcing companies, or our team to build your product.

By the end of the Discovery Phase, you will have a clear and comprehensive understanding of your project’s requirements, design, and functionality. This will give you the necessary insight to make informed decisions and prioritize tasks during development.