Should Startups Hire Or Outsource App Design?

Everyone who has ever gotten involved with building a startup can agree with the fact that doing so is a tough task. The people who are heading this operation have to often take on more than one role within the company while also thinking about what is to come ahead. And let’s not forget the fact that this is an extremely competitive world with newer and more innovative startups coming up every year. 

Due to this, while building a startup your number one goal is to get in the best talent to make sure that the company runs at its best potential. This is where the early team dynamics come into play. And it is at this juncture that the heads of the startup need to ask the important question of “whether we should consider app design outsourcing?”

There is no doubt about the fact that this has been a debate not only amongst the startup community but even more so when it comes to companies who are launching a mobile app. There have been good examples set on both sides of the table, people who outsource and even those who don’t. So then how do you decide whether it’s best for your company or not?

This article aims to aid you in this decision by showing you strategies from both sides. Depending on the outcome you can then decide what is best for your company specifically because don’t forget the need for each company is different than the other.

But first, let’s look into the point of why startups need designers in the first place. Not truly knowing the answer to this question, you are the founder or head could probably make the first mistake. You need to know the full extent of the job of a designer. When you don’t know the kind of role the designer has to play in the company you’ll end up hiring someone who does not fit the right criteria for it.  All designers are not the same. A UX designer is different than a graphics designer. Similarly just the fact that the person says they have 15 years of experience in print design does not mean they can work for your mobile app design. 

Hence you need to first determine what kind of designer you need, irrespective of whether you are looking to hire in or not.

Now we can move on to the more pressing question of whether you should outsource your mobile app design or hire for it. Here there are three major aspects that come into play. They are time, cost, and industry. Let us have a more detailed look at each of these factors.

1. Time

There has to be no doubt about the fact that for any designer to bring an app to life is a big-time commitment. There can be many reasons that lead to a delay in the lunch of your app when it comes to the design aspects. The designer might not have the right experience for it or the design in itself does not meet your expectations. The designer’s inability to properly execute your idea can cause a lot of problems leading to you not getting what you thought you would.

This could happen irrespective of whichever option you go for. Whichever option you go for you need to make sure they have the right kind of expertise for the task and that the working relationship between you both is good. Then you are set both ways.

2. Cost

No one wants to ever spend an extravagant amount of money, but especially when you are a startup. If you have the right kind of seed of capital or an amazing investor then you can think about hiring a designer. There are plenty of successful startups who went this route.

But if you are looking for a more cost-efficient option then you can think about partnering with a mobile app development company as you won’t have to think about many other aspects like equity or salaries. If your capital is tight then this is the right option for you.

But all things said it’s important to remember that you should not let go of experience and talent in place of money.

3. Take All the Industry Considerations

The last element you need to consider after all the above is what the competitive landscape looks like. It depends on the kind of industry you are part of as well. For example, the advertising industry will focus a lot of its attention on design as compared to academia. If your industry is such that you need a simple and sleek design then there might be a chance that your technical team should be able to get the job done without any problem. But on the other hand, if your industry is such that the design is what is doing to set the standards then you obviously have no choice but to bring in talented designers to help you out. 

Remember that a designer’s job is to only just make the web page or app look pretty but in fact, it’s to take the problems that you’re facing and find the solution for them. You want somebody who is on your side and who will go above and beyond what you have asked for. They should be able to add some more value to your project, more than the ideas you have given. The work of the designer is also to see any issues that you’ll have with the onboarding process before it can take place and show you have to fix it.

Over the years as mentioned above, we have had success stories on both sides. Companies who have hired designers and companies who have outsourced and partnered with a design team. You need to find what works best for you. If you think partnering with a design company is the way to go, then you can always have a trial period and see if that is what works for you and whether or not you like the company.