3 reasons why you should hire a software partner with an internal UX team

You’re a business founder looking for a development partner to build your app from scratch. You’re wondering who to choose: 

1. An all-in agency with both developers and designers on board.
2. A software house and an external UX agency.

While both solutions have their advantages, there are at least three reasons why the first option is the one you should go for. Let us explain why.

1. Better communication

Let’s start with a little back story of how we created our first designer-developer teams.

We started experimenting with embedding single designers into our development team about four or five years ago to see how it would work. 

Before that, we had primarily worked with external agencies or with clients who had their own in-house designers. The worst-case scenario was when there was no UX involvement at all. 

Even when there was a proper UX design process, the transfer of information between the agencies or clients and our team was often inadequate. 

Our developers were not always motivated or didn’t fully understand the reasons behind certain features or problem-solving decisions. Additionally, feedback from our team, such as their knowledge and experience, was not effectively communicated to the designers. This resulted in communication challenges and an inefficient process. 

• Now that we have everyone on the same team working together, the communication and collaboration have improved significantly, leading to a more effective overall process.

2. Knowledge sharing

Better communication leads to amazing knowledge sharing.

Knowledge sharing with other teams

Our UX specialists should always work closely with developers and product owners. When conducting research, whether it’s on goals or other information the product owner needs, they must be an integral part of the process. We don’t work in silos; we respect each other’s areas of expertise, and they respect ours in return.

We’re very open to sharing our knowledge, showcasing research findings, testing results, and so on. When we finish our research, we always share our findings with the front-end and back-end teams, including the product owner.  We also sometimes record our sessions after getting participants’ consent, just for internal team purposes. Product owners and front-end developers can always view recordings of testing sessions. It’s invaluable because they can see how people interact with the products they build.

Knowledge sharing within the UX team

Our UX designers have regular meetings where they come together to discuss problems, share knowledge, and showcase their designs, projects, and other artifacts. 

It’s very beneficial to have someone who is not involved in the product take a look at it to see if they understand the questions and overall structure. After working on something for a long period, it’s easy to overlook obvious elements. 

Having another team member review the material allows them to, for example, check the structure of the user interview questions and suggest improvements or ask clarifying questions based on the research goals. 

3. Competency switch

When needed, UX specialists do a competency switch within our UX team.

For example, there might be a situation when I recognize that I have stronger UX research skills than someone else working in a specific domain (for example, UI or UX writing). And in that particular project, they are at the stage where they need to conduct some form of testing and so on. In that case, we have a meeting and agree to switch roles. So, then I conduct testing for them on that product, and they, in return, assist me with some visual elements in another project.

As a result, the client only has one point of contact, but they benefit from the expertise of two individuals with specialized skills in their respective areas.

Conclusions

If you are considering hiring a software partner, it is important to carefully consider your options. Working with a partner with an internal UX team can provide lots of benefits. Feel free to reach out to us if you need to discuss your project’s design and software needs.