Partnering with a creative, experienced UX design provider is critical for any SaaS business, as SaaS products should be highly usable and appealing to the specific population of end users. You can always hire an in-house design team as an alternative, but most companies don’t need a UX designer department on a full-time basis. Thus, it’s more cost-effective to find a UI/UX design agency that can complete all design tasks and provide complementary services to your core development activities.
So, how can you find the agency that’s really worth the money it asks for? What criteria matter the most in the UX design agency’s selection? Is going for the cheapest offer a good chance to save costs and receive a workable UX design? Stay tuned to get a ready-made guide on choosing a top-tier SaaS UX design vendor without breaking the bank.
Range of Services
The first thing we recommend checking is a specific UX design firm’s range of services. Even if you want some minor task to be completed right now, it’s always better to partner with a company providing a large set of diverse services. This way, you will be confident that the UX design agency can cover all your design needs that may emerge at any moment, and you won’t need to go through the pains of choosing a new provider in the future.
Team Size and Tech Stack
The team that your UX design candidate employs is also worth paying attention to, as the company’s staff showcases its capacity and the talent variety it offers to clients. If the team is large enough, and you see different UX design specialists on board (e.g., UX designers, coders, and researchers), you can be confident about the high-quality service and expertise your provider will offer. The specialists’ tech stack should also be checked, as you surely want to work with a company that keeps pace with innovative technologies and can provide state-of-the-art UX solutions.
Positive Reputation
The Internet is awash with UX design companies, each claiming to be the best in the market. You should treat those claims with discretion, especially if their only source is the company’s official website. Thus, before making the final decision and signing a contract, make sure you talk to a couple of previous clients who previously worked with this agency. Based on other people’s first-hand experiences, you can make a more informed decision about the company’s workflows, service quality, and expectations.
Portfolio of Projects
The samples of previously completed projects speak more than a thousand words about the company’s experience and professionalism. Thus, don’t forget to visit the agency’s portfolio and ask for samples of their technical documentation to get a practical idea of what your collaboration will look like. If there are no samples, as all projects are NDA-protected, ask the agency’s representatives to provide their personal work portfolios; every staff member should give those samples at the moment of recruitment to showcase their experience. Otherwise, working with a company turns into buying a pig in a poke.
Location
Though many companies strive to get the cheapest offers from distant outsourcing locations, like Asia or India, they may fall prey to the technical problems of working with remote teams. Without those technical nuances put in order before the start of work, you may find it hard to communicate or track the team’s progress until it’s too late. You should analyze the company’s work practices and see how it handles the time and language differences. Besides, it’s vital to set up effective communication channels and take care of the overlapping work hours and common meetups, even if they fall into unfavorable non-office hours for one of the parties.
Communication Speed and Quality
You should pay close attention to how well the agency’s managers handle your inquiries and how quickly they respond to your inquiries. If the agency is non-responsive for a couple of days or a manager is hard to reach, it’s better to avoid working with such a provider. You will get even more troubles and headaches in further work, trying to get the promised work or response on time.
Pricing Policy
Working with designers and coders may get pretty tricky in terms of pricing. On the one hand, their lucrative offers on the website say you’re entitled to a ridiculously low rate. On the other hand, as soon as the time to sign a contract comes, you discover tons of hidden fees and extras. So, how can you be sure that you won’t pay twice the official price?
We recommend talking sincerely with the assigned manager of the UX design firm you’re considering. Ask them about the pricing model they’re following – whether it’s an hourly rate for the UX design work only or they want a commission covered separately. Dive deep into the details of the agency’s offer and make the final selection after you’re absolutely sure about the price you will pay.
Business Approach and Mindset
The final (though not insignificant) criterion for the UX design agency’s selection is a check of the company’s approach and mindset. It may not be an answer lying on the surface, but you should evaluate several parameters to assess this aspect. For instance, the portfolio review will give you an idea of what design process the company’s designers favor and whether they will be able to make your design stand out. Communication quality and workflows will inform you how concerned the company is about customer satisfaction and whether it follows a customer-first approach. Besides, we recommend checking how well (and in what way overall) the company resolves the problems emerging in the course of work on the UX projects. Their case studies and sincere talks with the agency’s previous clients can shed light on these issues.
Make a Choice with Care and Caution
As you can see, choosing a UX design provider is not as easy as it might seem initially. However, treating it seriously and focusing on the intricacies and nuances is a wise investment in long-term collaboration with a reliable provider. Due to thorough selection, you’ll definitely enjoy more predictable work processes, better quality, and workflow transparency.