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How to hire a product designer

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A product designer's role is to create products that are both eye-catching and easy to use. To do this, they must work with developers, engineers, marketing managers and other parties involved in the project to determine the desired outcomes. They will then craft attractive user interface elements that make navigating through the app or website effortless for users.

Product designers play an indispensable role in guaranteeing success for a product during the entire product lifecycle, so here we'll explain how to find the best product designer for your company or project.

What or who is a product designer?

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A product designer is a professional who is responsible for designing the appearance, functionality, and usability of a product. Product designers work in a variety of industries, including technology, consumer goods, and fashion, among others.

The role of a product designer involves identifying and understanding customer needs and translating those needs into innovative and visually appealing products. They typically work in collaboration with other professionals, such as engineers, marketers, and manufacturers, to ensure that the final product meets the required standards and specifications.

Product designers use a range of tools and techniques, such as sketching, prototyping, and computer-aided design (CAD), to create and refine their designs. They may also conduct user research and testing to ensure that the product meets the needs of its intended audience.

Overall, product designers play a critical role in the development of new products, helping to ensure that they are both functional and appealing to customers.

How to choose the right product designer

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Hiring a freelance product designer allows your to get started quickly. Bringing in freelance product designers means focusing on product development and user experience. Hiring a product designer as a freelancer is about 30% faster than trying to find a full-time employee.

Excellent product design and having a solid process are essential to any business. Bringing a freelance product designer on board allows your engineering team to work faster and ultimately speeds up development cycles. Ultimately product design services not only help your product but your business as a whole.

But what steps should you be taking when searching for your ideal product designer?

Define the role

Before you start looking for a product designer, it is important to define the role you are hiring for. What specific skills and experience are you looking for? What will the designer be responsible for? This will help you write a job description that accurately reflects the requirements of the role.

Create a portfolio review process

A portfolio review process is a great way to evaluate a candidate's design skills. Ask candidates to submit their portfolio as part of their application. Then, review each portfolio and use a scoring rubric to evaluate the quality of their work. This will help you identify the candidates who have the strongest design skills.

Conduct a design exercise

A design exercise is a great way to see how a candidate approaches a design problem. Provide a brief and ask the candidate to come up with a design solution. This will give you insight into their design process and problem-solving skills.

Evaluate soft skills

Product designers need to be able to work well with others. Look for candidates who have strong communication skills, are collaborative, and can take feedback well. You may also want to evaluate their ability to manage projects and work within a team. You want to make sure the hire gets on with your existing team too. Having a great personality fit often shortens the onboarding time for a designer and get them producing results quickly.

Use behavioural interviewing techniques

Behavioural interviewing techniques can help you evaluate a candidate's past performance and predict how they will perform in the future. Ask candidates to describe specific projects they worked on and how they overcame challenges. This will give you insight into their problem-solving skills and how they approach design problems.

Check references

Finally, check the candidate's references. Ask about their work style, communication skills, and ability to work within a team. This will help you get a sense of whether the candidate is a good fit for your team. Also check for case studies. These are different from classic portfolio pieces as they give you a deeper insight into how your prospective designer actually solves problems. Look for case studies with links to live projects, rather then concept projects.

How to find and hire the right product designer

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Finding the best product for your needs is all about realising what your needs are and what the needs of the project might be. Do you require a freelancer for a one-off project or something more long-term? And do you need a designer for one specific task or just about everything related to product design?

Then there’s the elephant in the room to consider - the budget. There is an incredibly wide range of pricing options for product design services with the price being determined by everything from a designer’s background and expertise to the range of services they offer. If they are charging for a complete branding package, meanwhile, you’re going to need to discuss a timeline with them.

Generally speaking, however, following the five steps below should leave you in the capable hands of a product designer that knows what they are doing.

Ask around

It might sound a little old fashioned, but the first place you should always start is with the people you trust. Do you have a friend whose colleague recently did an incredible project for them? Ask them for contacts and reach out to any designers that take your fancy asking for portfolios taking note of any work that seems like yours. 

You should also take advantage of your social media contacts. Check right here on Creativepool and on LinkedIn. There will be literally thousands of product designers ready and waiting to work with you.

Acknowledge the three P’s

“Personality, Professionalism and Portfolio” are the three things that really matter when hiring a product designer.

Of course, the portfolio is always going to be important, but you’ll also need someone with a personality you can tolerate as you could be spending weeks working side-by-side with them. They should also be respectful to your role as the client and/or boss and know when to stand up for their ideas too. 

Ask the right questions

You don’t just want to be asking them about their previous jobs and inspirations but their process too. A designer’s process will vary from person to person, and you need to know what their process involves if you want to see if it fits into your workflow.

Also (and this is key if you’re hiring freelancers) be clear about their availability and always ask for a proposal and a quote. Let them know exactly what you expect from them and ask what their ideas for the project are too, as you want to be 100% sure your ideas align before the project gets off the ground.

Set clear expectations

A product designer might wear many hats by virtue of their role, but they are likely to feel pretty miffed if you expect them to do wear a number of different hats, so to speak. In the same breath, expecting a product designer to fulfil the role of a creative director is probably a step too far.

Ultimately, a product designer is there to bring your idea to physical life and you need to let them know the parameters they’ll be working within. Otherwise, everyone is going to be left feeling disappointed and frustrated.

Sort out the contract

Once you find that special someone, you might be eager to get the ball rolling right away but you need to lay down a foundation of communication first. This is going to be crucial when you’re sorting out payment and taxes, which should all be outlined in a contract. In fact, contracts are perhaps what I’m going to end on here.

It’s not sexy and it’s not fun but it’s practical and ensures both parties are happy. So, get it in writing and make that glorious relationship official already!

Where to look for product designers?

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Targeted outreach is among the most effective ways to hire a product designer, especially if the team has prior experience working with good designers and/or has a large network. With your team and everyone you know who might have worked with a good designer, brainstorm a list of all the great people they’ve worked with, reach out to them, and/or ask them to refer other people they’d recommend.

Also look to larger design teams to see where you might be able to shave off talent, so to speak. Companies like Google, Yahoo!, LinkedIn, eBay, Apple, Adobe, Intuit, Twitter, and Facebook can employ hundreds of designers and are fertile ground for breeding designers who can work with cross functional teams to ship products. Because they have large teams, junior designers get mentored by more senior designers and are exposed to good design leadership and management practices.

For early-stage startups looking to hire a mid- to senior designer who can eventually lead, grow, and manage a design team, a designer from a large in-house team who has worked there for 2–4 years makes a great candidate for recruiting into such a role.

Startups and smaller companies are also a viable source for product designers, particularly if they have been with the company for 2–4 years and the future of the company is uncertain. Be aware, however, that some designers who only have experience in startups may lack a mature design process and/or ability to lead or scale a design team as it grows.

If a designer’s experience is mostly comprised of a series of short stints (< 18 months) at startups, take time to understand what happened, not just from the candidate’s perspective but also from founders, co-workers, investors, etc.

LinkedIn is always an option too, but it is a vast and cavernous resource. Creativepool, meanwhile, is focused specifically on creative professionals and there are hundreds of web designers within our ranks ready and waiting to meet you.

Writing a job description

Of course, if you’re going to be casting the net out for a product designer, you’ll need to write a decent job description. Start by figuring out how much you can afford to pay them.

The average base pay for a product designer is around £46,700  per year according to Glassdoor. Those with more experience and a proven track record of success in this area can command much higher salaries.

Be specific about your expectations. While it's important to hire the best person for the job, it's equally important to be clear about what your company needs from that person.

With your priorities and skillset in mind, it's time to create a job description. This should include a clear overview of what the role entails and any specific requirements or qualifications you have in mind. 

You may also want to note any benefits that come with the position and let candidates know what you can offer. This will help you attract the right product designers for the job.

Using Creativepool

Looking to hire a product designer? Creativepool has thousands of super talented members waiting to make your projects work better for their users.

There are 3 ways for you to find a product designer on Creativepool.

1. Search and Contact

Want greater control of who you work with and the process behind it? Searching for talent directly and then handpicking who you would like to work is a great way to be proactive in your talent hunting. 

Simply search for product designers and browse through the results. You will be able to look through projects, CVs/Resumes of the talent listed to make an informed decision on your next hire. 

On Creativepool we use a series of indicators to rank our members based on job title. Looking through the top 25 ranked product designers is also a powerful and quick way to view the best in talent on the platform.

Once you have found someone whose style and experience works for you, contact them directly by clicking on the message tab. Searching is ideal if you have a very specific idea on who it is that you would like to be working with. 

2. Post a studiogig 

Looking for a freelance product designer? The quickest way to find available talent is to advertise your brief. With us, briefs for individuals are called studiogigs.

Posting your role is formulated to be quick and easy and once you have posted your role, we get busy behind the scenes selecting the best talent to send out your brief to and then post the role on the jobs board. Once you have advertised your brief then just relax and wait for applicants to come to you directly! 

3. Post a job 

If you are looking for a permanent artist, then advertising a product designer job is the way for you to attract talent. The process is identical to posting a studiogig.

Once you have posted your role we will check the details of the adverts, send out job alerts to our community that best match your criteria and post on the jobs board. Like studiogigs applicants will apply to you direct.  

Whether posting a job or a studiogig or searching for talent you are in control on who you hire. You are under no obligation to choose any of the applicants, and you negotiate with them directly on rates. 

If you need any help on your talent hunt. You can chat with us or send us a message. We'd be happy to help. 

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