How to Hire the Best UI/UX Designer
Before hiring UI/UX designers, it is best for recruiters or employers to know more about the kind of developer that you are looking for. This comprehensive article for hiring UI/UX designers will answer questions that you might have or may encounter when you hire the best UI/UX designer.
For businesses, understanding the role and difference between UI and UX can help identify if you do need to hire a UI/UX designer and help guide you in finding a good candidate.
Let us first define UI. Short for User Interface, UI is primarily concerned with all the elements that a user may use or interact with a digital service or product. It’s a wide field integrating the elements of content, form, and behaviour.
The role of a UI designer is to create visually appealing and engaging interfaces that will attract users and help them navigate through the site. A UI designer must ensure that your business’ brand must be effectively translated into your software product or service.
On the other hand, UX, which stands for User Experience, is concerned with enhancing a customer’s experience by improving the interaction between the customer and a product. They research, develop, build prototypes and test their work to create an engaging experience for the end user.
Ultimately, it is a complex and challenging role as they act more than just as a designer but also somewhat as a project manager and marketer.
While both are involved with designer interactions between the product and the user, the two differ in the fact that UX focuses on macro-interactions, such as the overall features of a product, while UI deals with the micro-interactions or the specifics of a certain feature.
If you’re still confused about UI and UX, here’s a helpful guide that differentiates these two, as well as explaining their dynamics with each other.
Why should you hire a UI/UX designer?
For businesses, hiring skilled UI/UX designers can help boost your product’s engagement, visuals, and popularity with your users or customers. Hiring a UI/UX designer can give your business the following advantages:
Make your brand stand out
Due to the millions of websites and applications that are in the market right now, it is crucial for businesses to set themselves apart from the competition and make their product or services stand out. By hiring a UI/UX designer, businesses can create a unique and interactive web and mobile interface that showcases a business’ brand and that appeals to a business’ target audience.
Attract and retain potential customers
By studying what the target audience wants, UI/UX designers can come up with designs and features that attract or satisfy a certain market’s standards. This helps businesses attract a wider audience and increase the chances of finding potential customers and retaining them.
Generate more sales
Since your customers will mainly interact with your website or application, it is important that your interface reflects the brand and solves the users’ needs. The more your brand can be exposed online, the more it can generate traffic and attract potential customers which in turn will help generate more sales and revenue.
What technical skills should you look for when hiring UI/UX designers?
When hiring UI/UX designers, one must carefully take a look at their knowledge and expertise in developing good user interface and good user experience. Aside from finishing a degree in Computer Science, Multimedia Arts, IT or other related tech and web and mobile design degrees, here are must-have UI/UX designer skills that you should look for:
Understanding and experience in UX research
While an interface may seem to only be concerned on the visuals of a website or application, it also concerns itself with the needs and wants of a certain target market. As such, great researching skills are necessary to determine and plan out a design that caters to the behaviour and personality of a business’ target market.
Wireframing
A wireframe is referred to as a blueprint for each screen of an interface and is created to show how an interface would work. It consists of all the possible elements and features needed on every page. It is often illustrated in grayscale using lines and boxes.
Prototyping
UI/UX designers must know how to create prototypes in order to test an interface’s functionality. Prototyping allows UI/UX designers to ensure that the system and the end user’s goals function well before finally starting a project. Good UI/UX designers would know how to effectively and quickly create prototypes.
Visual communication
Since design is a highly visual medium, UI/UX designers must be able to incorporate eye-catching design with functionality to better attract and engage with the end users. As such, they must have a good understanding of key visual communication concepts such as colour, layout, icons, typography, images, and design theory.
Knowledge and experience in coding
While it may seem that UI/UX designers are only concerned with visuals and functionality, it is actually a requirement for UI/UX designers to know and have experience in coding, especially with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Strong communication and collaboration
These are key soft skills that you must look for when hiring UI/UX designers. Since UI/UX designers will have to closely work with the front-end developers and other members of the team, these are also must-have qualities to look for.
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