UX & UI: A Design or Development Question?

Deciding who to put in charge of your UX & UI will depend on your intended customer experience.

So you have decided that you want a new website for your business. You appreciate the need for companies to have a professional, accessible presence in the public domain, and you have already thought about the different ways that you can use a digital transformation to boost your sales and take your product to the world.

You may have also learned about UX & UI – which are essentially the way your website (or app) will function and flow, and how it will appear and feel – and have an idea about what you want for yours.

But now comes the difficult bit: who is going to create this website for you? Depending on who you ask, a website should be built by a developer, a team of UX & UI designers, or maybe a combination of all three. Defining who will compose the team for building your website is a key step in ensuring it succeeds and matches your own business identity, goals and strategies.

So, the answer to the title of this article question is really a question in itself. Or more specifically, two questions that you will need to ask about your goals and strategies.

1. What is your product?

This question might seem simple enough, but the true implications of what a product actually is sometimes escapes the people who are closest to it: the company that it belongs to. For example, if you are selling a specific type of software – let’s say a plug-in that helps online shops optimize and streamline their check out process – then what will your website need to look like? Well, for starters, you better have a highly optimized check-out process, ideally using your own software. Your technical expertise will need to be manifested in the smooth technical operation of the website itself.

So, for businesses focused on technical solutions, it will make sense to have a very close connection between the developers and UX / UI designers. In such cases, the development team will likely have to inform the UX / UI designers how the technical flow of the website will best operate, and for the designs to reflect this technical specialization and let it shine.

Conversely, for websites that are selling ‘less-technical’ products, such as design-based products like apparel, or experience-based products such as those offered by a restaurant or a hotel, it’s probably going to be a lot more important to build a strong emotional connection between your users and your website.

In such cases, it’s highly recommended to have a UX / UI designer or team to lead and determine the operation and feel of the website, while the developers should be there to realize the plans of the designers.

2. What are your resources?

This is a question that has two components: your budget, and your company’s current human resource pool. You may already have an in-house designer that truly understands and is able to express your product’s identity to your target markets, but may not necessarily how to best construct a website. These designers will probably be able to benefit from a team of developers that understand UX / UI best practices, who will also be able to offer guidance on the way designs should work together with the technical architecture of a website.

Conversely, if you have an in-house developer to build your website, this developer will likely need the support of a design team to realize your company’s new website.

The general point is that UX / UI design will need to work closely with the development process. Choosing the right design or development team to lead your website’s creation will be integral to its success, but it can also be expensive, depending on your location and local labor force, and if it takes too long to experiment with the right combinations of designers & developers.

At Bocasay, expert in offshore outsourcing services, we specialize in matching our clients with ideal development teams for building websites and apps, with a holistic approach to UX / UI design and technical functionality. No matter what your product, project or target market, we are able to provide you with the individuals that are specialized in specific areas and markets, and who will be able to adapt to your existing team’s structure seamlessly. With us you can hire dedicated developers, UX/UI designers, project manager etc.

Deciding who to put in charge of your UX & UI will depend on your intended customer experience.

So you have decided that you want a new website for your business. You appreciate the need for companies to have a professional, accessible presence in the public domain, and you have already thought about the different ways that you can use a digital transformation to boost your sales and take your product to the world.

You may have also learned about UX & UI – which are essentially the way your website (or app) will function and flow, and how it will appear and feel – and have an idea about what you want for yours.

But now comes the difficult bit: who is going to create this website for you? Depending on who you ask, a website should be built by a developer, a team of UX & UI designers, or maybe a combination of all three. Defining who will compose the team for building your website is a key step in ensuring it succeeds and matches your own business identity, goals and strategies.

So, the answer to the title of this article question is really a question in itself. Or more specifically, two questions that you will need to ask about your goals and strategies.

1. What is your product?

This question might seem simple enough, but the true implications of what a product actually is sometimes escapes the people who are closest to it: the company that it belongs to. For example, if you are selling a specific type of software – let’s say a plug-in that helps online shops optimize and streamline their check out process – then what will your website need to look like? Well, for starters, you better have a highly optimized check-out process, ideally using your own software. Your technical expertise will need to be manifested in the smooth technical operation of the website itself.

So, for businesses focused on technical solutions, it will make sense to have a very close connection between the developers and UX / UI designers. In such cases, the development team will likely have to inform the UX / UI designers how the technical flow of the website will best operate, and for the designs to reflect this technical specialization and let it shine.

Conversely, for websites that are selling ‘less-technical’ products, such as design-based products like apparel, or experience-based products such as those offered by a restaurant or a hotel, it’s probably going to be a lot more important to build a strong emotional connection between your users and your website.

In such cases, it’s highly recommended to have a UX / UI designer or team to lead and determine the operation and feel of the website, while the developers should be there to realize the plans of the designers.

2. What are your resources?

This is a question that has two components: your budget, and your company’s current human resource pool. You may already have an in-house designer that truly understands and is able to express your product’s identity to your target markets, but may not necessarily how to best construct a website. These designers will probably be able to benefit from a team of developers that understand UX / UI best practices, who will also be able to offer guidance on the way designs should work together with the technical architecture of a website.

Conversely, if you have an in-house developer to build your website, this developer will likely need the support of a design team to realize your company’s new website.

The general point is that UX / UI design will need to work closely with the development process. Choosing the right design or development team to lead your website’s creation will be integral to its success, but it can also be expensive, depending on your location and local labor force, and if it takes too long to experiment with the right combinations of designers & developers.

At Bocasay, expert in offshore outsourcing services, we specialize in matching our clients with ideal development teams for building websites and apps, with a holistic approach to UX / UI design and technical functionality. No matter what your product, project or target market, we are able to provide you with the individuals that are specialized in specific areas and markets, and who will be able to adapt to your existing team’s structure seamlessly. With us you can hire dedicated developers, UX/UI designers, project manager etc.

Get in touch to find out how we can take your UX / UI and technical architecture to the next level.

Get in touch to find out how we can take your UX / UI and technical architecture to the next level.