If you’re a business owner and are unfamiliar with the concepts of user experience (UX) or user interface (UI), then now’s a good time for a quick lesson.
Put - UX is the experience a user has when interacting with an application or website from start to finish. UX design is the design-based curation of that experience. UX design considers the brand image, company vision, and target audience when developing the user experience design.
UI is the mechanical dimension of the design, which is tied intimately to the more extensive user experience. UI is essentially a subcomponent of UX. The user interface design is responsible for choosing the colors, typography, and other core design elements. It is the nuts and bolts of what is referred to as usability.
Source: Austin Distel on Unsplash

UX and UI must not appear out of thin air - they must be designed. For this reason, when business owners are developing an online presence, they must hire someone to create, build, and develop their website. But this step must be done professionally, regardless of the particular industry a business owner is in.
Hiring a professional and reputable UX design agency to build a professional website that helps turn web visitors into loyal customers is crucial. Most web design firms function as UI/UX design agencies because it is a base component of their web design and web presence building services.
One of the critical things to keep in mind when hiring a UI/UX design agency or web design firm is to ensure that everything is clear and communicated from start to finish - to eliminate the possibility of miscommunication.
For this reason, we’ve compiled a list of ten essential tips to follow when hiring a UI/UX design firm. If you’re going to venture into that complex and confusing process soon, then the list below is for you.
5 Tips to Consider Before Meeting With An Agency
Tip #1: Figure Out What You’re Looking For
It’s important not to start your search in the dark. Instead, have a basic understanding of what you’re looking for. There’s a simple way to do this. Think about the companies and services you like, their websites, and their brands.
Go to those websites or apps and write notes about what concrete elements you like. The more you understand UI and UX design before this search, the more detailed this list can and will be.
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But even the most superficial observations can be helpful - color schemes, text placement, feel, and other dimensions.
Tip #2: Create a List
Once you’ve determined which designs you like and why figure out which UI/UX design agencies or web design companies were responsible for making them, this is the easiest way to determine which agencies you should consider working with.
This will allow you to bring concrete examples to meetings with prospective agencies and provide an essential, real-life vision of your tastes. Given that many web design companies are out there, this is a practical way to narrow things down.
Tip #3: Make a Realistic Budget
Hidden costs are always possible when hiring a UX/UI design agency. This is not necessarily the agency's fault per se but rather a communication problem. For this reason, developing a realistic budget for the project you’re hoping to undertake is essential before meeting with a potential agency.
This will save time and headaches later. Knowing where your budgetary red line is located is essential, so there are no overspending or misunderstandings.
Agencies will be able to tell you which aspects of your budget are realistic or not - but approaching them with a basic budget is critical to the limits of your spending being mutually understood.
Tip #4: Project Timeline
Like your budget, a project timeline is vital to develop before meeting with any agency. It would help if you determined which dates are critical to finishing with pieces of the project and which dates have more flexibility.
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If particular deadlines are critical to your project, determine these in advance. If other aspects are less deadline-dependent, this should also be clear from the beginning.
Tip #5: Contact Former Clients
Once a list is made of potential web design agencies and UI/UX design agencies, your next step is to contact the former clients these companies worked with.
The reason is that these first-hand accounts of how the work process went will tell you more than merely seeing the agency’s portfolio of finished projects.
You can ask a client for references before meeting them or contact the companies whose websites you liked from the beginning.
5 Tips to Consider While Meeting With A UX Agency
Tip #6: Project Organization — Who’s Doing What?
When meeting with an agency, you want to know who is who. As much as possible, you should meet the team who will be responsible for working on your project.
Understanding the talents, skills, and portfolios of the individual UI and UX designers working on your project will personalize the agency and help you make sense of the design process. Further, this will help me better grasp what the distribution of tasks will look like.
If a more prominent firm is only dedicating one person to your whole project, the results will be different than if a smaller boutique firm has a whole, but the minor team is only focused on your project.
Tip #7: Learn the Process
One primary reason it’s essential to have a basic understanding of UI and UX before meeting with clients is so that you can ask direct questions about their design process.
See how they conduct UX research, build wireframes, and structure design fundamentals. By seeing the agency’s process, you’ll get a feel for how your project will be done.
Source: sketchapp.netlify.app

Tip #8: Communication
Communication is something that you should both feel out and plan. On the one hand, you should use the meeting with a prospective agency to get a feel for how they communicate.
Do you feel like your questions are being understood? While this may seem insignificant in the larger picture, it is the basis of how your working relationship will function. This is why it is critical to have excellent communication from the beginning.
On the other hand, you should explain to the agency how and how often you’d like to communicate for the project in question - if they are willing to communicate on your schedule, then you’ve likely found a good agency.
Tip #9: Do they See What You See?
You want to ensure that you bring your brand's vision to the meeting. You should have a general vision of what you’re hoping to accomplish and get across with your website.
The UI/UX agency you hire should have the ability to understand what you’re hoping to accomplish and always complement it. They should be able to make it better.
This is crucial because if the agency acts more like an impediment to the successful bringing to life of your vision, they will likely not be who you want to hire. Instead, a symbiotic relationship of mutual understanding and vision development is critical.
Tip #10: Create a Plan Together
Last but surely not least, once you’ve gotten to a point where you’re planning to hire a particular agency, develop a plan - TOGETHER. Create a situation where miscommunication is impossible.
Source: Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Instead, work with the agency to develop a working plan for the project agreed upon from the beginning. At this point, when you’ve decided who you will hire, it’s essential to leave an open mind to the concerns and conditions of the agency.
There may be some places of disagreement - but with good communication, these disagreements can be worked out and likely strengthen the project's final results.
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Conclusion
Your process for finding the right web design firm or UI/UX design agency to work on your website or application might not be quick and might not be easy. For such a big decision, you must keep several factors in mind.
But if during the process, you keep in mind the tips we’ve provided, it’s almost a guarantee that you’ll find the right agency to work with.
Given just how big of an investment in time and resources hiring a UI/UX design agency can be, you must find the right one the first time. With these tips, you will - you’ll thank us later.


About Clay
Clay is a UI/UX design & branding agency in San Francisco. We team up with startups and leading brands to create transformative digital experience. Clients: Facebook, Slack, Google, Amazon, Credit Karma, Zenefits, etc.
Learn more

About Clay
Clay is a UI/UX design & branding agency in San Francisco. We team up with startups and leading brands to create transformative digital experience. Clients: Facebook, Slack, Google, Amazon, Credit Karma, Zenefits, etc.
Learn more