When Product Design Outsourcing Is Better than an In-House Team?

Viktor Zhytomyrskyi

You’ve probably heard a lot of times about how much first impression matters. It is overused yet remains accurate in the core. Product design is no exception; it is an exemplary case, and we can prove it.

Business success largely depends on the product’s perception by users. Most users judge a particular product based on whether it is intuitive, whether it solves their problems quickly, and whether they are satisfied with the product’s overall appearance. Customers do not think about the developers’ work behind it as they cannot see it. What they can see, comment about, and, if you are lucky — enjoy is mostly design. Your product may be an outstanding example in a specific niche; however, poor design quality usually defines overall judgment about whether to trust this or that brand or abandon it.

Moreover, if your customers are unsatisfied, you should redesign your product. It entails a lot of additional expenses, reputational damage, and a longer time to the market. Designers will need time to research what has gone wrong, try new hypotheses, and provide design updates. And most importantly, when the business does not work, it cannot serve the customers and bring you profit.

Therefore, design investments pay off entirely. Product design can also differentiate your business and create a unique selling proposition in a crowded market. Being a newbie in the business world, you can feel overwhelmed by all the risks connected with design and struggle to find the ideal option to hire designers.

In this article, we’ll argue about in-house design teams and outsourcing designers, define the most appropriate solution in each case, and tell more about the Idealogic Design approach to collaborating with clients.

When It Is Inconvenient to Hire an In-House Design Team?

In-house designers are full-time employees who need an equally full-time workload. It is the first thing to consider when you are thinking about it. If your business is at that stage that requires designers daily, meaning you have long-term tasks that will keep them occupied, an in-house design team may work best for you. Let’s look closer at other pros of having an in-house design team.

Benefits of having an in-house design team

The most obvious reasons to consider hiring an internal design team lead to communication and management aspects as, in this case, the whole team is under your direct control. We dwell on these and other reasons to consider such an option in the following list.

Higher engagement. When you choose people for your in-house team, you pay attention not only to their set of skills but also to whether they match company values. The in-house team may have a better and clearer vision of the future product and be more determined to work on its implementation.
Face-to-face contact. When your whole team is together in one place, they can freely and more easily exchange opinions and brainstorm ideas. It is also more convenient to resolve arising issues as soon as possible.
Lower security risks. This aspect revolves around company values. If your employees are loyal, they will not engage in any way with the competitors to leak confidential information. Also, you can implement security measures that will make it difficult to do so, even if someone would want to risk their whole career.

Now you know all the advantages the in-house team may bring to your company. However, some issues may make you rethink this decision, and we want to discuss them in the following paragraph.

Disadvantages of hiring an in-house design team

As we mentioned, you must work on long-term projects with a big scope of tasks to justify hiring an in-house team. Otherwise, you will end up having people not working but still expecting the payroll (and rightly so, as it is not their fault they have no tasks). Also, consider the following aspects before finally deciding.

Invisible costs of hiring a new team member. When you want to attract a new employee, you must have a person on your team who will do interviews and onboarding. These processes usually take a lot of time as it is rare to match with someone instantly. As an employer, you are expected to provide a decent workplace with all necessary tools and equipment. Nowadays, people also expect different social benefits when they become a part of a team, including compensation for training courses to keep up with the latest trends and technologies. If your budget is limited, you may hesitate to begin the whole hiring process.
Turnover rates. Even if you are lucky enough to get the person into your team you should be aware of the competitors who can attract them by providing better working conditions. Just imagine: you invested your time and money to bring in a new team member, and they just go to your competitors. Of course, you can retain them by raising the rates, but you risk ending up with unbelievably high payrolls you cannot afford to pay.
Lack of newity. If your team constantly works on one product at a defined pace, it may lack fresh ideas, and eventually, you’ll find yourself far behind your competitors. The in-house team may become quite an insular space.

All the listed disadvantages may be not significant or relevant for you, so feel free to choose an in-house team if that is what you want or need. However, if you know you can’t afford to go through the whole process, consider the alternatives. One of the most popular options in the IT world is outsourcing.

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When and Why Outsourcing May Be a Better Solution?

Outsourcing widens the geography of possible candidates for the work on your product’s design. You can choose a team ready to start working from all over the world. It may benefit you or become an obstacle. Let’s begin with the obvious advantages of outsourcing.

Pros of outsourcing

It is no secret that in some countries rates are more affordable than in others. This fact alone may draw attention, especially if you are a startup owner with a strict budget. And there are others to consider as well.

Time and cost efficiency. Lower rates are not the only reason to consider outsourcing. You also don’t have to provide a social package for the outsourcing team, yet you benefit from their set of knowledge and skills directly. Outsourcing also means a quick jump straight to the work as there is no need to introduce your company policy and values to the people who are with you for a short period. A faster start leads to speedier release and faster profit from your product. It is a competitive advantage, especially in the fast-paced industries.
Talents with fresh ideas. When you start to think broadly, you may discover professionals in their niche all over the world. These people are full of experience as they cooperated with many industries before and can help you to see things differently. Moreover, if you are a new person in the business, you may not have a full understanding of specific processes, and a skilled team may become a real relief. They can offer you new approaches, technologies, and examples of how to enhance the overall product’s quality, and you only need to choose what suits you better.
Resources to focus on other things within the company. When you outsource design, you’ll free the time to focus on other aspects that matter in product development, such as marketing, sales, and customer service. You cannot be a professional in every field; you have to delegate. When you delegate design aspects to the experienced team, you can create strategies on how to present your product in the market and sell it to the customers. You have more time for all kinds of research that will ensure your business model will work properly.

If you are a startup owner you may wonder if your product will bring you the desired results. You cannot be sure that your team will have a full workload in the future. You may just need something to show the investors that your idea is viable. In that case, outsourcing seems like a perfect option. However, you should also know some issues that may arise along the way.

When outsourcing may become a problem?

The biggest risks with hiring an outsourcing team are cultural differences that may cause communication issues and confusion. When you choose to cooperate with people from another part of the world, you cannot expect the same work practices. However, it may become a plus as you get the opportunity to broaden your outlook. The best way to avoid misunderstandings is to choose a wise intermediary that will deal with all communication gaps.

Another fear may be that you can’t control everything remotely and build proper work relationships. Again, someone like a product manager can easily handle this and many other possible issues. On the other hand, aren’t we all now used to working remotely? The main obstacle may be different time zones but it all can be discussed if you choose your partner wisely.

One more concern is security and intellectual property risks. You should trust the outsourcing company as they will work with sensitive information. It is difficult to predict the worst-case scenario even in the case of an in-house team. At the end of the day, it’s all about particular people, not companies. Regarding intellectual property rights, you should talk about all points at the beginning to secure your rights and eliminate possible risks.

Therefore, the success of the collaboration with the outsourcing company lies largely on communication skills and prediscussed agreements. For many businesses, outsourcing may be a more suitable option than hiring an in-house team, as it brings a lot of benefits with little or no risks.

At Idealogic Design, we have experience with companies from different industries, and we’ve mastered our workflow with our clients to avoid all the described dangers. Learn more about our work process further.

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How to Organize Cooperation with the Outsourcing Design Team

Let’s say, you’ve finally decided to cooperate with the outsourcing company. You are probably overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. So, we are going to walk you through Idealogic Design’s approach to collaborating with clients, share our workflow, and tell you more about how we learned to avoid typical problems that may arise during product design.

Roughly, we can outline the whole process in three main stages with their own specifics: initial estimation, product design itself, and post-launch observance.

Initial estimation

If you as a client show interest in our services, we usually conduct a call to discuss the basics: what exactly you expect to get, the business strategy, and your vision of the future product. In Idealogic Design, we highly respect privacy and security concerns and are ready to sign an NDA if necessary. When we know more about the future project, we are ready to provide the estimation, meaning the description of tasks with the needed time and people to close them. It’s our complimentary service, by the way. Usually, it takes more than one call to reach an agreement and get all the technical details for the estimation. But, when it’s finally done, our favorite part begins.

Product design

Product design itself has many equally essential phases. In Idealogic Design, we appreciate the customer’s input, that is why we work in iterations and get feedback and approval from you before moving on to the next stage. We start researching to define the user persona and analyze the existing solutions to understand how we can make a real difference. We believe that our designs have to be helpful, so we think of all the users’ touchpoints with the product to ensure it will work properly.

The next thing we do is prototyping our idea. This allows us to see how it works and how it’s perceived by real people out there. Sometimes, the concept may seem great, but users are not satisfied with it. Prototyping is essential for detecting the weak points in business strategy and redefining the product design strategy. It also helps to start the design process with a clear vision of the future product.

Then, we design the whole thing, do all the possible tests to detect the weak points, fix them, and present the product to the client for approval and launch. We also evaluate usability to make sure everything is perfect for every screen type and device.

You may wonder how to manage these processes. Well, we work as an aligned team and have everything covered. Our design team meets daily to discuss the progress, distribute the tasks, and brainstorm ideas. We also keep the client posted all the time. We settle on regularly calls to share the updates and get feedback and edits. It may be any format convenient for you — monthly, weekly, or even daily.

Post-launch support

Product launch is the end of product design but the beginning of the product life cycle. Not everything can be predicted by the prototyping and testing. After the release, it’s high time to observe how the product is doing, what reviews it gets, and how it can be improved. Even the perfect product will need updates with time passing and new ways to amaze its target audience. That is why you may want to do some A/B testing to define what works better. We are here for all the experiments and also for the reminder to comply with the initial business strategy if it works well enough.

All in all, we strive to organize such a process that will comply with our client’s requirements, yet be comfortable for the team. We see our customers as partners who bring us the possibility to express themselves through designs that will make the change. Although our usual process consists of these three stages, the Idealogic Design team may step in on every phase of product development; it should not necessarily be from scratch.

Wrapping It Up

Therefore, going for an outsourcing company specializing in product design is a smart move, as long as you pick one carefully and pay close attention to the details. When you communicate effectively, you'll find a partner who's just as committed to the project's success as you are, and this typically leads to faster and more cost-effective results compared to hiring an in-house team. Outsourcing companies bring a ton of experience, expertise, a solid track record of successful projects, and a commitment to staying current with industry trends.

Launching a product can feel overwhelming, so it's great to share some of that load. If you're interested, get in touch with the Idealogic Design team, and we'll be happy to help create a cutting-edge mobile app for your business.