User Experience Design
How to hire UX designers
If the user interface (UI) is all the buttons, icons, and other visual elements that make up an app, the user experience (UX) is simply the sum of one’s experience using that app. If you need help making your app easier to use or are trying to get a user to take a certain action, a UX designer is just the freelancer you need.
So how do you find the right UX designer for your project? Here are four simple tips that can set you up for success.
Which projects are UX designers useful for
- Lead generation landing pages
- Website redesigns
- Mobile apps
- Email campaigns
- Case studies
- eLearning projects
How to shortlist UX designers
As you’re browsing available UX design consultants, it can be helpful to develop a shortlist of the freelancers you may want to interview. You can screen profiles on criteria such as:
- Industry fit. You want a UX designer who understands your industry so they can help design a UX that resonates with your target market.
- Data-driven personality. UX design is about collecting data from user tests and feeding them back into the design and development teams.
- Feedback. Check reviews from past clients for glowing testimonials or red flags that can tell you what it’s like to work with a particular UX designer.
How to interview UX designers
Ready to meet your future UX designer? It’s time to interview your shortlist. Aim to interview at least three UX designers. Typically, at least one of those designers should be from the higher end of the spectrum of experience and billable rates to serve as a basis for evaluating other candidates. Here are some sample UX designer interview questions:
- “Walk me through your UX design process.” This question gives the UX designer the opportunity to explain how they go about crafting a user journey for your product. Since design approaches can vary widely based on context, what you’re really looking for is the ability to explain the rationale behind their process.
- “Have you ever had a user test require you to completely change an existing design? How did you handle it?” User testing is an important component of UX design. It’s a good sign if a designer has a proven track record for taking user feedback and incorporating it back into your product.
- “What’s your favorite tool for creating prototypes and wireframes?” From low fidelity wireframing tools such as Sketch and Balsamiq to high fidelity mockup tools such as InVision, there are many tools in the UX designer’s arsenal. Familiarity with a variety of tools can show their breadth of experience and capabilities. Alternatively, you may just come out and ask if they’re experienced with your preferred UX design toolkit.
When you’ve completed your interviews, there will hopefully be one UX designer who stands out from all the rest. If you’re still unsure, you can always conduct another round of interviews or vet the finalists with a paid test project.
How to write an effective UX design job post
With a clear picture of your ideal UX design in mind, it’s time to write that job post. Aim to provide enough detail for a freelancer to know if they’re the right fit for the project.
An effective UX design job post should include:
- Scope of work:From storyboards to user testing, list all the deliverables you’ll need.
- Project length:Your job post should indicate whether this is a smaller or larger project.
- Background:If you prefer working with specific design tools or technologies, mention this here.
- Budget:Set a budget and note your preference for hourly rates vs. fixed-price contracts.
Ready to create a UX design that will help you maximize the effectiveness of your marketing campaign? Log in and post your UX design job on Upwork today.
UX DESIGNERS FAQ
What is UX design?
UX design is all about crafting the experience of using a particular user interface (UI). In the context of web and mobile, as soon as you string a login form, a search bar, navigation buttons, and content, you’ve got a UI. UX is how it feels to use that UI.
Here’s a quick overview of the skills you should look for in UX design freelancers:
- Experience with user personas, stories, and use cases
- Ability to design wireframes, mock-ups, and high-fidelity prototypes
- Design tools such as Sketch and Balsamiq
- Market research and analytics
- Testing and experimentation
UX design consultants help businesses design streamlined UXs for their products and services.
Why hire UX designers?
The trick to finding top UX designers is to identify your needs. If you’re running an ecommerce site, your goal is to make it easy for the customer to browse your inventory, add products to their shopping cart, and check out. If you’re creating a social media app, a UX designer can help you set up a user journey from sign-up to uploading a video.
Start with the initial “why” behind hiring a UX designer, then look for the background you’ll need to bring your project to life. The cost of your UX design project will depend largely on your scope of work and the specific skills needed to bring your project to life.
How much does it cost to hire a UX designer?
The top three factors that contribute to UX design project costs are:
1. The scope and complexity of the design project An experienced UX designer will propose a quote based on the amount of work that needs to be completed—and the more there is, the more time and effort they’ll have to account for. A UX designer is focused on how users interact with every aspect of your website or application, whether it’s the homepage, a form, a product page, drop-down menu, or search functionality. The more of these screens, pages, and elements there are, the more exponentially complex the project becomes.
Providing a thorough outline of the work expected is essential for any professional to give an accurate bid. Leaving too many of the variables undefined can lead to “scope creep” and cause a budget to spiral beyond your expectations.
2. The number of storyboards and personas to account for The idea behind creating user personas is to uncover and zero in on your users’ motivations, goals, and preferences. This is how a UX pro gets to know your customers forward and backwards, and it’s central to them doing their job well.
That said, each persona calls for interviews and surveys, rounds of user testing, and analytics. The more personas you have, the more information an expert will need to dissect in order to get the best, most actionable insights to move forward with. With those insights, a UX designer can generate scenarios that illustrate each user’s path through your app and identify which elements may help to inform or influence decisions along the way.
UX designers generally have specific processes to help identify user types as efficiently as possible. Consider exploring each candidate’s process during the interview to get more insight into what you’ll need to budget for.
3. The amount of user testing required One thing to know going into any digital UI project is that the design process will likely be very iterative and patience is key. The more testing you do—at the beginning and as you refine your UI—the more time and effort will be required, not just for your UI designer but anyone else on the team.
Much of a UI designer’s time is spent using testing results to define user preferences and create wireframes, which is accomplished through more manual user testing. They may use testing to:
- Monitor user interactions
- Review user interviews and other feedback
- Run A/B split testing
- Study key performance indicators
Note that some products may require multiple rounds of testing in order to reach the proper levels of refinement, and this can contribute to a higher project cost.
4. The designer’s experience and rate
| SAMPLE UX DESIGNER RATES
(Estimated billing rates charged by intermediate-level, U.S.-based specialists) |
|
| Project Type | Average Price (per hour) |
| UX Design (General) | $25-$75 |
| Wireframing | $30-$60 |
| User Research | $25-$65 |
| Storyboards/Personas | $30-$70 |
Many freelance UX designers prefer to work at an hourly rate since their discovery process can be very time-consuming. Some may also consider fixed-price, although this is less common. Billable hours can include everything from wireframing to user testing, storyboards and persona work, and each designer you interview will have a different process for completing these tasks.