How to Hire a UX/UI Designer: A Complete Guide for 2024

Let’s cut to the chase: 99,9% of products need a designer. 

A skilled professional will ensure your product looks great, meets industry standards, and is easy to use. They’ll work with you to understand your users’ needs and create a design that addresses them.

Data-driven design can be the difference between a successful product and one that fails. Without it, users can become frustrated and abandon your software altogether, no matter how good the underlying code may be. That’s why it’s essential to hire UI/UX designer who can help you create a product that not only meets your users’ needs but also delights them.

But what talent does your business need? With so many different types out there, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. 

Now that 'why we should hire a designer' is no longer a question, let's explore 'whom to hire' and then move on to 'how to hire.'

UX designer

A user experience (UX) designer is responsible for how users interact with software, whether a website, app, or desktop program. They ensure that products are intuitive, engaging, and efficient. A UX designer studies user needs and behaviors to create solutions that aren’t only functional but also user-friendly. These experts tightly collaborate with UI designers and developers to build a product that works well and increases user satisfaction.

For instance, have you ever experienced a frustratingly long sign-up process that required too much information or had inconvenient drop-down menus? Let us introduce — bad user experience design.

When do you need a UI designer?

You’ll need to hire a UI designer when:

• Refining your product’s visual identity. If you aim to establish or enhance your product’s brand through its visual interface, the UI designer ensures it aligns with your brand’s values and appeals to your target audience.
• Improving user interaction. Whenever you want to make your product more intuitive and engaging through visual cues and interactive elements, a UI specialist can create an interface that guides users effortlessly through their journey.
• Enhancing accessibility and inclusivity. If you aim to make your product accessible to a broader audience, including those with disabilities, a UI designer can ensure visual elements are made with accessibility standards in mind.
• Optimizing for different devices. In today’s multi-device world, if you need your product to provide a consistent and optimized experience across various platforms (desktop, mobile, tablets), a UI designer can adapt your interface to each context while maintaining usability and brand consistency.

UI and UX are the yin and yang of software design. However, you rarely find a pure UI or UX designer. Often, the skills are combined in the face of a UX/UI specialist.

UX/UI designer

As the name suggests, some talents combine both UI and UX skills, which makes them a jack of all trades in software design.

Their role is to connect the dots between the product’s functionality and appearance. By focusing on both how it works and looks, UI/UX designers create intuitive, user-friendly, and visually appealing software.

When do you need a UX/UI designer?

There's no one-size-fits-all checklist for deciding between single or separate specialists. On our consultations, for example, we delve into the project's needs, scope, complexity, and budget to identify the most suitable type of designer. But, to sum it up succinctly, here's the key point: 

A single designer for smaller projects: For smaller or less complex projects, a single talent with a balanced skill set in both UX and UI may be sufficient. This approach can be cost-effective and ensure a unified vision for the project.

A specialized team for larger projects: For larger or more complex projects, consider hiring specialized UX and UI designers. This allows each aspect of the product design to receive the focused expertise it deserves.

Product designer

Product designers bridge user needs, business objectives, and technology to create meaningful products. They’re responsible for conducting user research, ideating and prototyping, and building intuitive user interfaces. Collaborating with cross-functional teams, they ensure designs match business goals, support accessibility and inclusivity, and keep iterating based on feedback.

Compared to UX/UI specialists, product designers have a much broader role. They cover UX/UI design but also handle big-picture responsibilities, like ensuring the product design follows the business objectives, studying what users need, and considering the product’s market fit and lifecycle.

When do you need a graphic designer?

You’ll find a graphic designer’s expertise invaluable when:

• Establishing or refreshing your brand identity. Are you launching a new brand or looking to update your brand identity? Then, a graphic designer can create a cohesive visual style that includes your logo, color palette, typography, and brand guidelines.
• Creating marketing materials. Whether for digital marketing campaigns, social media, print ads, brochures, business cards, or product packaging, they can produce materials that capture attention and convey your message effectively.
• Communicating complex information. When you need to present data or information in a more digestible format, like infographics or reports, a graphic designer can organize and visualize it in a way that makes it easy for your audience to understand.
• Events and promotions. If you’re planning events or promotions, they can create visually appealing banners, posters, invitations, and other promotional materials that align with your event’s theme and goals.

Design strategist

The increasing demand for strategists is the product of the evolving designer’s role. It’s a hybrid role that blends the strategic, client-facing, and oversight responsibilities of a product manager with the design expertise, creative insight, and mentorship qualities of a senior designer. Strategists play a crucial role in shaping the project’s direction and success. 

When you think about a memorable brand experience that resonated with you on a deeper level, chances are there was a design strategist behind it, orchestrating every touchpoint to evoke a specific emotion or response.

When do you need to hire UX strategists?

Consider involving a strategist in the following scenarios:

• Brand development: When establishing a new brand or undergoing a rebranding, a strategist can ensure brand alignment and differentiation.
• Product innovation: For companies seeking to innovate their products or services, a strategist can help identify opportunities that meet both user needs and business objectives.
• Market expansion: When entering new markets or expanding existing ones, a strategist can conduct market research and develop tailored design strategies to resonate with local audiences.
• Strategic partnerships: In collaborative projects or partnerships, having a strategist onboard can facilitate the alignment of design efforts with partner goals and enhance the overall success of the venture.

Developer-designer?

We may surprise you, but there are such kinds of designers — often freelancers — who state that they can design and develop your project. Should you hire them? Better not.

Developer-designers are as rare as unicorns and as treacherous as mountain passes. Modern development and design require a broad set of skills. Without devoting significant time to learning, trying, and failing, a designer-developer won’t be able to deliver decent design and code. At best, you’re risking mediocrity; at worst, you may end up with clunky, slow, and unusable software.

While there may be exceptions, they are few and far between. It’s safer to hire developers and designers separately to ensure the quality of your project.

What designer level do I need? 

Now that you know which specialist you need, you may wonder, what is the best cooperation model for my project? In this section, you will get practical advice based on Cieden’s experience as we cover the following:

• The ins and outs and key differences of teaming up with in-house staff, freelancers, and agencies;
• The pros and cons of each collaboration model;
• The risks associated with each option.

Hiring an in-house design team

A company without a designer is like a phone without a camera — it still functions, but you miss out on the benefits.

Hiring an in-house team seems like a straightforward, convenient, and lasting solution. Well, we find it logical — you get a specialist who will permanently work only for you and know your product like the palm of a hand. Seems like the perfect scenario?

Let’s break it down to see all the pros and cons.

Pros of the in-house team:

• Independence from third parties. Your in-house team knows the company’s needs and processes, works more efficiently, and doesn’t juggle tasks from ten other clients.
• Full control over the management processes. You get to decide how to manage the team and which approach is the best within the company’s framework.
• Brand consistency. The idea is obvious — your in-house employees are the most familiar people with the company’s vision and brand identity, especially if they are the ones who created this identity.
• A long-term benefit. If your designers stay, they will become well aware of your company processes, product peculiarities, and the “internal kitchen”.

If you spend a decent amount of time picking up the right designers, constantly take care of their development and growth, and get them the best equipment — an in-house team will prosper your company. The fact is that not all companies have the resources for such a long process. This brings us to the drawbacks of having an in-house team.

Cons of the in-house team:

• Price. Businesses must pay salaries, office rent, additional taxes, and employee benefits. Don’t forget about modern equipment and software for employees — an in-house team may cost a pretty penny.
• Time. Finding a single professional can take a few months considering the preparation, search, and interviewing process. And even after all the recruitment challenges, you can’t be sure that the person you’ve found is a proper match. If you need several employees, multiply the effort by their number.
• Unpredictability. If your employees get sick or go on vacation, the work stops or slows down.
• Liability. After you’ve hired in-house designers, you have to keep them busy. With no workload, you’re forced to cover unjustifiable expenses, and your employees can become frustrated.

When to hire an in-house team?

If your company has reached a point where ongoing design work is substantial and continuous, having a dedicated team in-house might save money and time. It’s especially true if you constantly need product updates, marketing materials, etc. Consider, though, that each month of downtime will cost money.

It’s better not to hire an in-house team if your design work is more of a once-in-a-while thing rather than a constant need. Also, if your projects are varied and need different kinds of design expertise, it’s smarter to work with outside agencies or freelancers. This way, you get the flexibility and wide-ranging skills you need without the ongoing costs of having a full-time team on your payroll.

Addressing the main risk of hiring an in-house team

Having your in-house team can be risky since you commit to paying fixed costs, like salaries, which might be tough during slower periods. Additionally, there’s the risk of hiring the wrong people. You must validate their portfolios and skills to ensure you get the right pros. It’s a complex process that deserves its own guide, but we covered key moments below.

Hiring freelance designers

Hiring a freelance UI/UX designer can be a great way to get professional services without the overhead of a full-time team. The attitude towards work from home changes; people prefer flexibility and freedom, so the freelance niche is booming.

Pros of hiring freelance designers:

• Price. Hiring a freelance designer is less expensive than hiring an in-house designer or partnering with an agency. There are no overhead costs, and you usually pay an hourly rate.
• Time. If you needed the work done yesterday, freelancers are the best choice, as they often work on short notice. Also, they’re used to quickly switching between various small projects.
• A huge pool of pros to choose from. There are hundreds of thousands of freelancers, and most are ready to go to great lengths to get a gig.

Cons of hiring freelance designers:

• Reliability. The saturation of the market also means there are a lot of beginners. Finding an experienced freelancer with a free slot soon enough may prove difficult.
• No supervision. Not all people can organize and plan work equally well. While agencies and in-house teams have dedicated professionals, freelancers have no choice but to do it themselves.
• Less focus on design. Freelancers are also their own managers, supervisors, and salespeople. It means they have less time and energy for design.
• Design-development conflict. Freelancers are so used to working independently that they may lose sight of one crucial point: they need to create projects that can be transferred to the development stage. This is a big one — what is the point of a beautiful draft if devs cannot make it a working website?
• Bad for big and complex projects. Complex projects usually require a whole design team. Hiring a team of freelancers is difficult, but making them work together efficiently is a true challenge.

When to hire freelance designers?

As we see, freelancers are great for minor tasks. For example, if you need a single-screen design, a simple landing page UI, or basic marketing materials.

When the scope of work is not so large to pay a full-time specialist, and there is just a need to fulfill your needs once — start browsing the freelance marketplace.

If the task is hefty or requires a wide range of skills — UI, UX, product, and brand design — you’re better off with an in-house team or agency.

Addressing the main risk of hiring freelance designers

Finding freelancers that’ll deliver on time or deliver at all is the greatest challenge of this approach. To minimize the risk, there are two main tips:

• Pick freelancers with proven track records and either sign a contract or work through specific platforms that offer some guarantee. The lowest rate is not the reason to set fifteen milestones at once and hope for a marvelous result.
• Find an in-house manager for a freelancer. It is tricky to normalize work with freelancers because they are simultaneously accountants, PMs, designers, and testers. Take the load off the freelancer’s shoulders and leave him only those tasks he needs to do.

Keep in mind that 99.9% of freelancers are solo businesses that are not trying to build a “name.” Therefore, no company brand will be responsible for the quality of their work. That is what brings us to the last point.

Hiring a design agency

Agencies combine the best of both worlds. On one hand, you don’t have to spend time and money hiring and supporting the in-house workforce. On the other hand, you have access to a well-put-together design-focused team under professional supervision. In short, the best way to get things done without breaking the bank.

Pros of design agencies:

• A battle-ready team. You get a team fully equipped with all the professionals you need for the project, including a project manager and HR to keep them happy and productive. Whether you need animations, illustrations, graphic design, or branding materials, there will be the right person for the job.
• Best designers. Agencies invest a lot in professional growth: courses, libraries, certifications, time for self-development, and challenging tasks. It means you get skilled, experienced talents. Besides, the best agencies need to have robust recruitment departments. It helps to hire and grow strong teams — a crucial competitive advantage.
• Time to market. An agency will deliver if you need a quality product on the market ASAP. Besides, you don’t have to spend time hiring freelancers or assembling an in-house team.
• Reliability. You don’t get to worry about designers getting sick, leaving their jobs, or underperforming. It’s an agency’s responsibility to make any bumps unnoticeable to you.
• Broad expertise. Agencies bring a wealth of knowledge and diverse skills to the table. With experience in different industries and project types, they can offer fresh insights and solutions that might not cross an in-house team’s mind.
• Cost efficiency compared to hiring in-house. Choosing an agency for projects with a defined scope and timeline can be more cost-effective than hiring full-time staff. You avoid the overheads of benefits, training, and workspace associated with in-house hires.
• Speed and scalability. Agencies can quickly scale up or down based on project demands. They can handle sudden project spikes without the delays of hiring new employees.

Cons of design agencies:

• Price. Partnering with an agency will be more expensive than hiring freelancers (but less expensive than hiring an in-house team if it’s an offshore design agency).
• Lack of total control. You’ll have some control over your team, but the agency will handle the management/supervision. Also, like in-house teams, agencies rarely work on weekends or during late hours.
• Communication and time zones. Depending on where the agency is, time zone differences may affect communication and turnaround times. This can be planned for but requires effective project management to keep things smooth.

When to partner with a design agency? 

Agencies are great for complex design tasks, including UI/UX design, product development, business analysis, high-level consultancy, customer relationships management, or design audits. If the job is too big for a freelancer, and you don’t want the hassle of an in-house team — partner with an agency.

Sometimes, it’s beneficial to mix hiring approaches. For example:

• An agency can bootstrap a product and create the initial style;
• In-house designers can be hired later to manage A/B and usability testing, long-term support, and optimization.

Addressing the main risk of hiring a design agency

When looking for an agency to handle all your needs, it is common to consider hiring an onshore team. However, this solution has a few drawbacks.

First, onshore teams are usually more expensive than offshore ones. The difference in economic conditions between countries allows offshore agencies to keep costs low and margins thin.

Second, onshore teams don’t necessarily mean better quality. Offshore agencies often compete with onshore companies and other offshore agencies globally, forcing them to maintain high-quality standards.

To select an offshore agency that meets your needs:

• Check their reviews on websites like Clutch;
• Carefully examine their portfolio on Dribbble or Behance;
• Inquire about the team’s level of English proficiency;
• Schedule a call with them to discuss their approach and vision;
• Request information on working hours and the team members who will be working on your project.

With many excellent agencies worldwide, finding the perfect match is possible. Don’t settle for less than the best — hire a design agency to complete your project.

Whether you need an in-house team, a freelancer, or a design agency, the first step is knowing where to look. We’ve got you covered with the most popular hunting grounds for designers and agencies. But before you start your search, you need a killer job description. Let’s make sure you’re attracting the right candidates from the get-go.

How to write a perfect job description

Writing a proper job description is half the battle in finding a high-end professional. Although it may seem straightforward, many people still get it wrong by either trying too hard or not at all.

Our advice is to avoid reinventing the wheel. Be straight to the point and include all essential information with minimum to no vague statements and cliches. You can read a perfect job description diagonally and still get all the info you need.

You don’t necessarily need a job description. Suppose you want to partner with a design agency. Give an agency enough information about your project, and they will provide you with the project estimate and optimal team composition.

Where to search for designers and agencies? 

So you have your killer job description, but where do you find the right candidates? Different platforms will help with the task depending on which approach you prefer. Let’s check them out.

How much does it cost to hire a UX/UI designer?

The cost to hire UX and UI designers depends on various factors like the specialist's location, experience level, and cooperation model.

Expert in-house UX/UI specialists from the US charge over $70 per hour. The junior specialists may require a compensation of about $40 hourly, and the average rate is nearly $50. Changing your expert’s location to European countries like Germany will lower the average salary to around $30 per hour.

Now, let’s talk about freelancers. As Upwork suggests, a freelance UX designer earns $25 to $39 per hour. Freelance UI designers, in turn, charge $20 to $40 hourly to get your product’s look and feel done.

Agencies’ rates vary greatly based on their level of expertise, location, and the scope of services offered. Reputable agencies may command higher prices, but they usually have comprehensive teams of dedicated designers, and design leads to kickstart your project. Still, the average cost ranges from $50 to $60 per hour.

How to hire the best designer for your needs

If you’re looking to hire UI designers or UX experts, there are a few things you should keep in mind. We don’t want to be downers, but there’s no one perfect way to hire a designer.

Different projects require different expertise, approaches, and tools, so the best one depends on your specific circumstances and requirements. Here are a few tips from our experience to guide you.

Know what type of designer you need

To choose the right talent for your project, define your project goals and requirements clearly. Identify whether your focus is on improving the functionality and user experience (UX) or if you’re aiming to enhance the visual appeal and interactivity (UI).

Knowing the exact outcome you want — whether it’s a more intuitive website, a visually stunning app, or an engaging digital product — is crucial. Consider the project’s scale — will a single talent be enough, or is a multidisciplinary team needed? 

Experience matters, but education is secondary

When hiring a designer, don’t get too hung up on their education. Sure, a degree in design can be helpful, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a great designer. Instead, focus on their portfolio and previous work to determine if they have the skills and experience you need. Don’t be fooled by diplomas and awards for school projects — it’s their real-world experience that counts.

Review previous work and discuss your brand

To find the perfect designer for your needs, look for examples of their work that match the project you have in mind. Discuss your brand with them to ensure they understand your values and aesthetics and can create designs that resonate with your audience.

Have a diverse hiring team

So far, you’ve learned how to find design experts and agencies that match your requirements. Now, it’s time to evaluate their portfolios to determine their skills and pick the best candidate.

However, analyzing portfolios can be tricky. Portfolios don’t always spill all the details about the project, what the designer did, their work approach, and their design process.

In this document, we’ll show you how to analyze UI/UX portfolios to determine whether a talent has the necessary skills.

How to analyze a UX designer’s skills through a portfolio

Analyzing a UX designer’s portfolio smartly requires focusing on how they showcase their problem-solving skills and user-centered design process. 

Look for detailed case studies that explain the challenge, the designer’s specific role, the steps they took to understand user needs, and how they iterated on solutions based on user feedback. Pay attention to how they communicate their thought process, the rationale behind their decisions, and the impact of their work on the project’s outcomes.

While you can analyze aspects such as those mentioned above without much experience, other factors require extensive UI training, such as contrast ratios, grids, adherence to platform guidelines, and data alignment in forms and tables. However, the analytical basis we provided is enough to identify inexperienced designers.

Additionally, you can test your ability to detect UI imperfections with this fun test. It also explains correct answers, allowing you to learn in the process.

How to analyze a UI/UX designer’s portfolio

A portfolio should showcase their user experience and user interface design skills. Such portfolios often combine both UI and UX cases, providing not only the visuals of the software but also the analysis and thinking behind the solutions. To analyze a UI/UX designer’s portfolio, refer to the recommendations provided in the previous two chapters. But remember:

Some talents have stronger UI skills, while others are stronger in UX. When looking for a UI/UX specialist, pay more attention to whichever skill your company needs. Sometimes, finding a unicorn is easier than finding someone with equally powerful UI and UX expertise.

Questions to ask yourself when vetting portfolios

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself about UI/UX portfolios to find the best candidate.

Do you see a story?

In a portfolio, each case should weave together into a captivating story. The viewer should be left with a crystal-clear understanding of the designer’s contributions. Without this essential skill, a designer may struggle to communicate their ideas and construct a flowing narrative.

Is their role in those cases transparent?

In many cases, an entire design department works on a product. If an interviewee presents such a case in their portfolio, it should be clear what their specific contribution was. For example, the designer may have created wireframes, designed UI based on wireframes created by their colleague, or conducted customer research. 

Are there any cases in your industry or domain?

We can’t stress this enough: if you want the best match, find designers who have experience in your domain or industry. 

So, pay twice as much attention to portfolios with cases similar to your product. The more similarities, the better: market niche, platform, target audience, etc.

Are there any views and comments from other people?

Social proof can be tricky, especially if you don’t know anything about the credentials of those providing it. However, if the portfolio is publicly accessible, check the comments section. Medium, Behance, and Dribble are particularly useful in this regard. 

Besides, you can always do some quick Googling to check whether the commenters have the experience to back up their claims.

Do you personally like their cases?

To achieve productive “creative chemistry” between you and a designer, it’s important to find someone whose taste matches yours. This will result in a better and more beautiful product with each iteration, inspiring you even more.

Therefore, choose designers with portfolios that you find attractive or, if that’s not an option, ensure their work doesn’t cause aesthetic discomfort.

Do you like their way of thinking and solving problems?

Creating a product involves continuous problem-solving. How can user flow be made more intuitive? How can the conversion rate be increased? How can design freshness and appeal be maintained? How can usability be improved?

If you appreciate a problem-solving approach in their specialized field, you will likely have a long-lasting professional partnership.

Does it address business goals? 

Designers, particularly those in middle and senior positions, should contribute to the company’s goals through their work. Portfolios that state the product’s mission objective and demonstrate how they helped to achieve it will earn bonus points.

How do they incorporate user feedback into their design process? 

Knowing how an interviewee handles user feedback tells you about their adaptability and focus on user-centered design. It’s important to see how they iterate on their designs in response to user testing and feedback.

What tools and technologies are they proficient in?

While not directly related to the portfolio’s visual or case study content, knowing what tools an interviewee is comfortable with can be essential for workflow integration and project execution. This question can help assess whether the designer’s technical skills match your project’s requirements.

Summing up

Our recommendations will help you identify inexperienced or under-skilled designers, but let’s face it: there’s no substitute for a true expert. The game recognizes the game, and only an experienced designer will spot all the nuances and red flags of a portfolio. So, if you need help finding the perfect talent for your team, don't hesitate to contact us. We’ll make sure you get the best of the best.

After checking dozens of resumes and portfolios, it’s time to ace the interviews! In this section, we’ll share our expert tips on how to get the most out of your interviews, including:

• Questions to ask during the interview;
• Test assignments to evaluate UI/UX skills;
• Is there a perfect interview?

Three types of thinkers in design