Selecting among numerous options is scientifically proven to be difficult. One of the best ways out of this is to get recommendations from trusted experts, prioritize your needs, and follow your intuition afterward. With this in mind, we have provided some insights in this article to help you choose the right UI/UX design company for your current or future business needs.
What is a UI/UX design company?
A UI/UX design company is a technical and creative agency that creates user experiences for digital products. Their role in software development is like the role of an architectural company in construction. Just like architects are required to determine the suitability of a building in specific environments, design agencies consider device platforms, user behavior, and other environmental factors to deliver the best user experience. The most common function of a UI/UX company is to provide user research and analysis, wireframing and prototyping, and digital product design.
User Research and Analysis: User research is the best way to capture the real and current needs of the market. While a business must give UI/UX companies insights into the needs of its customers, the design companies have to extend their knowledge about the customers by doing or gathering data about the demographics, motivations, and behavior of current and potential users. A UX researcher communicates these to the project lead or the entire team.
Wireframing & Prototyping: These are the initial steps in a typical design process. Wireframing involves creating a visual representation of the layout and structure of an app or website’s features. Although it has low fidelity, clients can recognize where the design elements will go. As for prototyping, it’s an interactive and clickable version of the product that is primarily created for user testing and client feedback or validation.
Digital Product Design: Providing websites and mobile app designs that offer the best user experience is the core function of a UI/UX company. In addition to that, these companies offer services in branding and visual identity design.
Importance of a Good UI/UX Design Agency
Think about this for a moment; there are nearly 2 billion websites today. And there are over two million mobile apps on the Apple App Store. Without getting into the specifics or mentioning certain industries, these numbers indicate that competition is rife in the digital world for businesses. Standing out among the sea of options requires innovative and user-centric design solutions from a good UI/UX design agency.
Creating a good user experience is also a key requirement for on-page SEO, and a proficient UI/UX design agency plays an important role in achieving this objective. According to Google’s research, an appealing and user-friendly interface enhances website usability, reduces bounce rates, and encourages visitors to stay longer.
So, if having a good user experience is directly linked to having a competitive edge, higher purchases, customer satisfaction, and retention, finding a good design company should not be taken lightly.
How to Select a Creative UI/UX Design Agency
- The quality of communication: A good design agency must recognize and communicate their clients’ core and unspoken needs after the first interaction. As the clients, you may not have the vocab to describe the design solution you want. So, when choosing a design agency, you should focus on their understanding of the problem and how well they can communicate it to you.
A skilled UI/UX design agency should be able to bridge the gap between their expertise and your understanding from the get-go. That’s a good sign of a smooth, collaborative communication process. From the outset, ensuring they keep open communication throughout the project is also important.
- Portfolio: Generally speaking, a portfolio signifies the level of credibility and expertise expected from the agency. A UI/UX agency should have a website where you can see what they have done in the past. You can also discover their portfolio on third-party sites like Dribble and Behance. But don’t stop there! Your next due diligence is to visit the websites or apps they’ve worked on and see how it’s performing currently. Do that if you can!
Also, please get to know the process and results of the projects that pique your interest and compare it with your present needs. More about this in the next point.
- Tools & Workflow: With all the intricacies and nuances involved in each project, design processes are typically replicable. That’s because tools and well-established methodologies exist for documenting and monitoring progress. For example, project management software (e.g. Productboard and Asana) allows teams to track tasks, deadlines, and resources efficiently. In addition, version control systems help designers collaborate seamlessly and maintain a history of changes.
As the client, you should vet the agency’s tools and workflow to know the type of capabilities and security that will be provided.
- Reputation: Are they the best in their niche or location? What do customers say about them? The source of these answers is not only the design agency’s websites, portfolio page or the number of social media followers. To dig deeper, check Clutch because they feature “in-depth verified reviews” of B2B businesses, including top UI/UX agencies in different locations worldwide. You can also consider other third-party sites like Trust Pilot and Glassdoor. After checking this, look for media mentions or even their blog page to know if they have a well-balanced team makeup, culture and service delivery.
Summary
The digital explosion across industries has brought more people to the UI/UX design field. As a result, businesses are left with many options to choose from. We hope the four factors mentioned here will open your mind to spot UI/UX design companies that match your expectations and needs.
