How to choose an experienced UX consultant?
What a UI/UX designer should be able to do
Before diving headlong into the process of finding a consultant, let's figure out the difference between a UX and a UI designer. UI UX design services means "user interface" and not only graphic, but also tactile and sound. The job of a UI designer is to design the graphic part of the interface: selection of colors, animation, illustrations, buttons, fonts, placement of objects. He checks whether the drop-down menu works correctly, whether the buttons are easy to click, and whether the text is clear.
The UX designer, in turn, is responsible for the functions, adaptability, and emotions that the application evokes in users. UX design is important for any application, it helps to increase loyalty to the product or service and establish long-term relationships with your target audience. UX design not only attracts new users, but also helps to retain existing ones.
Companies hire UX consultants when they realize that their product is not very user-friendly, but they don’t know how to fix it. As practice shows, UX designers cope with this task perfectly.
The main difference between a UX and a UI designer is that the former determines how users will interact with the product, i.e. what steps they will need to take to get the desired result. The latter thinks about how to make this path more aesthetically pleasing and attractive.
If everything is clear with the definition, you can proceed to the search. Frankly speaking, choosing a designer is quite difficult, since you cannot predict whether he or she will cope with the task. Analysis of previous projects on various design platforms can help with this.
Online platforms worth your attention
There are many online platforms where you can easily find a designer. They feature both freelancers and professional UI UX design agency .
How do you decide who exactly you need? To be sure you don’t go wrong, first define the goals of your project. Perhaps you only need a few prototypes to visualize the idea in order to attract investors and get initial support. In this case, you can safely choose a UX freelancer. But if you want to create a fully functional application (which requires more than just UI/UX design), you should use the services of an agency with a full-fledged development team.
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We can’t help but mention Clutch , which has established itself as the best platform for finding ratings and reviews of companies in the IT sector, where you can always find the best agencies depending on your needs. In addition, Clutch conducts its own research of companies from all over the world and publishes the results in the form of a list of TOP agencies.
Another major platform where designers can share their work is Dribbble . Anyone can register as a viewer and view the portfolio of a UI/UX designer . However, the platform has a drawback - there is no way to filter companies by category. However, users can search by tags. For an app that helps users plan and manage their workouts, keywords could be "sports", "workout", "fitness".
And of course, we shouldn’t forget about Behance ! It’s a community of creative professionals from all over the world who post their work and discuss projects of others. Behance itself defines itself as “the leading platform for showcasing and using creative projects.” Well, it’s hard to argue with that, since you can find hundreds and even thousands of projects there with a full description of the functionality. Behance allows you to view examples of UX designer’s work even if you are not registered on the platform, and also allows each user to send private messages to others. In addition, in the “Best of Behance” section, you can find some of the most interesting and innovative works.
There are many creative and artistic freelancers on these platforms, but we still recommend choosing agencies. Why? The answer is simple - in this case, you get a team of professionals that can perform a whole range of tasks for your project - not only UX design, but also development and QA testing. If you need other specialists in addition to designers, then in case of a decision in favor of freelancers, one will definitely not be enough. Simultaneous organization of work of several specialists remotely can turn into a long and laborious process, especially if they all live in different time zones.
Social media
More than 3 billion people worldwide are users of social networks. If you are not one of them, then you are missing out on the opportunity to quickly, effectively, and most importantly, cheaply find a UX designer . How can social networks help in the search?
Facebook is the largest social network with over 2 billion users. There are groups where UI UX development company designers post their work. You can view their projects, leave comments, ask questions, and communicate. You can also search for designers by the hashtags they leave under their photos. For example, you can type “ UX designer ” in the search bar and see their work.
LinkedIn is one of the most recognizable and popular social networks in the world for business communication. It is probably the only social network that allows you to see who visited your profile. LinkedIn has an advanced search, where more than a dozen filters are available, which is much more convenient than a regular search. Here are examples of the most popular ones: job titles, location, industry, skills, expected salary and keywords.
You can also use Instagram to find a designer. Frankly, it is not very convenient, since the application does not have custom filters that allow you to quickly and easily sort and view designers' works.