when & how to hire a ux designer

WHEN & HOW TO HIRE A UX DESIGNER

Monday, August 8, 2016

TODAY

• Is this the right time to hire a designer?

• Preparing for success with your hire

• In-house, or outsource? (aka Buy or Rent)

• And your job title shall be…

• Leaders vs doers

• Making a hire that lasts

• Where to find ‘em

Hi, I’m Erin.

I’m a UX designer. I’ve been in this industry for

over a decade. I’ve been hiring UX positions since

2008 and I now run a high-functioning UX design

consultancy that employees the best 9 UX

designers in Austin.

IS THIS THE RIGHT TIME?Tick tock, my friend. Tick tock.

You wouldn’t build a house without an architect.

Professional UX & UI designers can help ensure that products are:

APPEALINGHELPFUL OPTIMIZEDEASY-TO-USE

PREPARING FOR SUCCESS

Structure:

If you’re all used to design happening without a designer, you need

top-down organizational commitment to changing your habits.

"All the complaining about having to do someone else’s job is about

to turn into complaining about giving their work to someone else.”

Invite your design team to the strategy table, and expect them to

change the way things are done.

Authority:

Do they have the last call on user-interface decisions?

Do they need to get input from other stakeholders? Do they need

approval from every stakeholder?

Tools:

This may be Adobe Suite. This may be SaaS software for booking

customer interviews. This may be more whiteboards. Oblige.

PREPARING FOR SUCCESS

Structure:

If you’re all used to design happening without a designer, you need

top-down organizational commitment to changing your habits.

"All the complaining about having to do someone else’s job is about

to turn into complaining about giving their work to someone else.”

Invite your design team to the strategy table, and expect them to

change the way things are done.

Authority:

Do they have the last call on user-interface decisions? (Hopefully.)

Do they need to get input from other stakeholders? (Highly

advisable.)

Do they need approval from every stakeholder? (I hope not.)

Tools:

This may be Adobe Suite. This may be SaaS software for booking

customer interviews. This may be more whiteboards. Oblige.

PREPARING FOR SUCCESS

Structure:

If you’re all used to design happening without a designer, you need

top-down organizational commitment to changing your habits.

"All the complaining about having to do someone else’s job is about

to turn into complaining about giving their work to someone else.”

Invite your design team to the strategy table, and expect them to

change the way things are done.

Authority:

Do they have the last call on user-interface decisions? (Hopefully.)

Do they need to get input from other stakeholders? (Highly

advisable.)

Do they need approval from every stakeholder? (I hope not.)

Tools:

This may be Adobe Suite. This may be SaaS software for booking

customer interviews. This may be more whiteboards. Oblige.

TO BUY OR TO RENTIn a bustling gig economy

TO BUY OR TO RENT

Why you’d outsource

Once this project is launched, we expect ongoing demand for this

type of design to be minimal.

We HAVE in-house design resources, but we’re short and need

to get through a bump in demand.

Our in-house team is swamped with daily work, but we’re trying

to accomplish something new & unprecedented. We need

someone to come in and grease the wheels for us with new

thinking or user insights.

We foresee a wide variety of design work and we can’t afford to

hire a person who can bring it all.

Why you’d hire in-house

Our main offering is a product that will be continually improved.

We foresee lots design work, of a consistent type. For at least 2

years, I can imagine keeping a person busy for 40 hours/week.

We intend to grow a team in the future, and we need to get

started with a leader.

SO MANY TITLES“I’m a primarily interaction designer but I’m moving toward content strategy.”

WHY YOU GOTTA GO & MAKE THINGS SO COMPLICATED?

Some titles are confusing aliases, but some do

represent unique skills.

User Experience Designer

Content Strategist

Information Architect

Creative Director

Interaction Designer

Rapid Prototyper

UI Designer

Product Designer

Branding Specialist

Illustrator

Visual Designer

THE LEADER TO DOER SPECTRUM“Oh, so you want me to run a team?”

YEP, THERE ARE LEVELS IN THIS GAME

Associate Designer

• Can make great designs.

• Sits at their desks a lot,

doing stuff.

• Ideally, does LOTS of

stuff.

• Needs great leadership

to learn and grow.

Director

• Used to make great

designs, but now

critiques with a clear

mind.

• Advocates well for their

team and the user.

• May do while managing.

• Knows how to grow their

team.

Jonathan

IveSeniorIntern

MAKING A HIRE THAT LASTSIt’s so much cheaper that way.

A HIRE THAT LASTS

Ask them to tell you the story of recent

projects.

• Can they articulate the objectives

clearly?

• Did they master the subject matter?

• Can they sell you on their design

rationale for tough choices?

Can they talk the talk?

A HIRE THAT LASTS

Ask them to tell you the story of recent

projects.

• Can they articulate the objectives

clearly?

• Did they master the subject matter?

• Can they sell you on their design

rationale for tough choices?

Ask to see some recent samples of work

they produced themselves.

• A great designer will be able to

achieve the look their client needs.

Do they have diverse samples?

• Does their work show attention to

detail? That part can’t be taught.

Can they talk the talk?Can they really sling pixels?

A HIRE THAT LASTS

Ask them to tell you the story of recent

projects.

• Can they articulate the objectives

clearly?

• Did they master the subject matter?

• Can they sell you on their design

rationale for tough choices?

Ask to see some recent samples of work

they produced themselves.

• A great designer will be able to

achieve the look their client needs.

Do they have diverse samples?

• Does their work show attention to

detail? That part can’t be taught.

At the end of the day, you have to work

with this person.

• Can they point out weaknesses in

past work, or are they always the

smartest one in the stories they tell?

• Can you imagine bringing them into

a meeting with higher-ups?

• Can they give you references?

Can they talk the talk?Can they really sling pixels? Do you like them?

WHERE TO FIND ‘EMAre they lurking in plain sight? Nope. They’re, like, really busy.

“Hi. Can we talk?”

Rely on peers who understand your needs. Don’t

know who to talk to? Find those connections.

Meet them where they are.

UX folks who are open to opportunities might be

networking. If you need a local designer, Austin UX

provides a great list of places you might find them.

This is Vitorio Miliano. He maintains

this list, and would be embarrassed

to know that I used his photo here.

QUESTIONSComments? Concerns? Tomatoes?

THANKS!Let’s stay in touch

erin@slideux.com

www.slideux.com

www.twitter.com/erinlynnyoung