If you're in a situation where there are frequent project downtimes, and thus you cannot consistently assign work to a full-time UX/UI designer, you can resolve this situation in three ways.
Body Leasing – The Quickest and Easiest Option
Firstly, the easiest option is body leasing. This model involves a specialised UX agency — not a recruitment agency — providing you with a designer on contract for one or several projects. This individual will work for you for the exact amount of time you need, meaning you don't have to employ them permanently. This offers greater flexibility in managing human resources, allowing you to adjust staff levels according to current project needs without incurring additional costs associated with long-term employment.
There are two ways to arrange such employment: either the UX agency provides one of its own employees, or it assists in hiring an external candidate who has been vetted in a prior recruitment process by the agency's specialists. In both cases, you are guaranteed full professionalism and compatibility with your team. An important added benefit is the guarantee of replacing the worker if they turn out not to fit your organisational culture — this can be actioned within 24 hours.
The UX agency, considering the specifics of your enterprise, carefully selects candidates by analysing their competencies, experience, and soft skills. Collaborating with an agency also provides support in onboarding the new employee, making the adaptation process smoother and quicker. This enables the new team member to fully engage in project execution immediately. Additionally, agencies often offer training and workshops for newly hired personnel, further integrating them into the company's structure and helping them understand its mission and goals.
This option is best for companies that have short projects up to one month and are proficient in managing the design phase.
Outsourcing the Design Process – Eliminate All Your Design Problems
The second solution is to delegate the entire UX/UI design process to a specialised UX agency. In this scenario, the agency can operate in two different modes: openly, where all activities and progress are transparent and visible to the client, or covertly (white label), where the agency works in the background, providing full anonymity and discretion. The choice depends on the approach you need and your expectations regarding the collaboration. Selecting the appropriate working mode can significantly impact the project's efficiency and the quality of the final results.
A UX agency not only delivers wireframes or the final application design but also participates in client service processes, gathers requirements and specifications, conducts workshops, estimates, provides quotations, and so on. This means that from the first contact to project completion, the UX agency handles every aspect related to the project's execution. On your side, you only need to monitor what is happening and handle hourly billing. Naturally, this solution is more expensive than body leasing alone because it involves more processes and more people on the agency's side. However, by engaging a UX agency, you gain the assurance that each stage of the project will be conducted by specialists with the appropriate knowledge and experience, translating into higher quality of the final product.
This option is ideal for companies that do not want, dislike, or do not need to manage the UX/UI design process themselves.
Freelancer – Generally Time-Consuming
The third method is to hire a freelancer from the market on your own. You and your employees need to find such a person, conduct the recruitment process, and then hire them under a contract, which might include a contract for specific work, a contract of mandate, or another form of collaboration. This process can be time-consuming and requires thorough verification of candidates to ensure they have the appropriate qualifications and experience. It's worth noting that if you use agency leasing services, the agency handles all the paperwork, greatly simplifying the process. However, when hiring a freelancer independently, all the risk and administrative tasks fall on your shoulders. This means you must handle all formalities yourself, such as drafting contracts, settling payments, and dealing with potential tax and insurance matters.
If you've used this solution before, you'll recognise that it is the most risky and uncertain of the three methods mentioned. You have no guarantee of replacing the worker if they do not perform well, nor assurance that the processes managed by the freelancer are correct and maximally efficient. There's also the concern that the project could come to a halt if the freelancer simply falls ill.
Freelancers often work alone, which means they lack the support of a team that could assist in case of problems. Moreover, their availability may be limited, especially if they are working on multiple projects simultaneously. This can lead to delays and communication issues, negatively affecting the timeliness and quality of the tasks performed.
Another aspect to consider is the lack of standardisation in freelancers' work processes. Each may have their own methods and tools, potentially leading to incompatibilities and difficulties in integrating their work with the rest of your team. Additionally, the absence of formal procedures might mean you won't always have full control over project progress.
The advantage of hiring a freelancer is certainly the lower cost compared to employing a full-time staff member or using an agency's services. This can be beneficial if the budget is tight and the project doesn't require ongoing involvement from a specialist over an extended period. However, remember that a lower price may come with higher risk and necessitate greater involvement from you in managing the project.
This method works well if your team has the competence to vet freelancers and you aim to maximise your profit margin.
Which Method of Employment Will Be Best for You?
We recommend body leasing for short projects lasting from one to four weeks, as this form of employment is the most optimal both financially and process-wise.
However, if you wish to streamline and automate design processes, and the projects themselves do not flow in a regular stream, we recommend an approach where the UX agency takes over the entire design process. On your side remains control, client communication, and possible verification of results. In this scenario, a leader from the UX agency acts on its behalf, estimating the project, conducting consultations, workshops, and similar activities. In the case of body leasing, the designer works on ready materials and briefs.
The last way to replace a permanent position with a more flexible solution is freelancing. This is most advantageous if you aim to maximise the profit margin from the design process. However, it's important to remember that this form of employment carries the greatest risk and requires more effort.
