Choosing the appropriate user experience (UX) partner for a digital product is a big decision. There are uncountable UX agencies available out there, but choosing the right one can be a daunting job. A wrong Agency can prove to be a disaster not only for your products but for your career as well.
Doing it in the right way will make your users love your product. The stakes are already high; thus, you need to filter carefully about with whom you want to work. And this is why you need to know how to pick-up a good Agency.
Study and verify their past experiences and projects:
The first thing that you need to do is, looking at their past work. It is the best indicator of how the UX Agency is going to perform in the future. It is a good way to start your research because you will get an idea of the agency’s technical experiences and skills. Make sure that the company has completed live projects in the past and has contributed a unique approach to every project. In the end, everything boils down to metrics.
Thus, verify how the agency has worked on retention, engagement, user experience, and conversion metrics. Ask your agency to give examples of how they did exactly to reach the goal. If they can describe it concretely, it means that they are knowledgeable about their previous work.
You may also perform some online research by taking a look at their online reviews. These reviews will help you understand their working qualities, delivery time, cost, and willingness. Also check how they are reacting to criticisms.
Learn about their process of communication:
Among any partnership, one of the most important parts is communication. The agency you are going to select must be enthusiastic and determined from the very beginning. Have a conversation with the team about how often they contact their clients, how much time the replies can be expected, and what tools they are using to communicate.
Once, email was considered to be the only medium in the field of communication. But now, those days are gone. The agency you select must invite you to a separate internal channel on a tool to make the communication process instantaneous. It will help to maintain the seamlessness of workflow and will keep the project on the right track.
Check whether the company has enough resources:
Product development is just a single stage of the launch, and there exist several other steps too. Thus, you will need to verify and check whether the company has all the necessary resources or not. An Agency must be aware of all the issues that can occur during the entire process. Therefore, they must be able to advise you on other stages like UI designing, development, and product maintenance.
Their broad knowledge that will cover the other areas, including UX design, will help prefer the optimal solutions from the very first. Remember that proper advice from an experienced company can solve multiple problems, and thus saving time.
Talk to the lead designer of the agency:
Communicate with someone who has worked with the company already to gather some evidence and ask about how they worked. You can also contact a common connection or recent client and ask whether they will like to re-work with the company or not. Look for the testimonials on different websites for reviewing the ratings.
The responsibility of elements like communication, end quality, and deliverables comes on the agency team and their product manager or creative director. Before hiring an agency, you must talk with the agency lead designer, salesperson, and project manager. Quality assurance is also a crucial role in UX design. Make sure from the lead designers that the released products are meeting the specifications.
Ask your agency about their design quality assurance programs. An agency should plan, direct, and coordinate such programs to make sure that the final product meets the end user’s expectations. Make sure from the agency’s experts that they have extensive experience in user research, testing, auditing, reporting, and visual designing.
Conclusion:
Selecting the right agency may not be that easy, but with some diligent analysis and research, it can be easily done. An agency can be said well if they have the required experience, skills, and will to understand your desires. A wrong agency can burn all your funds and derail your potential product. A good team must not only focus on paychecks but also on creating values.
