Key Steps to Effectively Collaborate with a Freelance Product Designer
Businesses are increasingly realizing the advantages of hiring independent designers to handle some or all of their design requirements. In-house hiring and traditional design agencies can't match the professional, flexible, and economical solution that working with independent designers can provide.
Working with freelance designers may seem like a risk if you're accustomed to working mostly with an internal team or people without product design experience.
Therefore, it's critical to comprehend the easy shortcuts to functioning most efficiently with a freelance designer in order to guarantee that your new partnership is profitable and long-lasting.
- Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
To paraphrase, this is the one rule that governs them all and the foundation upon which all others are built. It's critical that you and your designer communicate efficiently and clearly from the first time you get in touch until the design is delivered.
That isn't exclusive to dealing with designers, of course. This also applies to any professional connection. It is much more crucial that this kind of communication takes place because the designer is probably going to be working remotely and mainly on their own.
The most effective way to interact is usually one-on-one, but thanks to technology, this doesn't have to be the case. It's up to you and your designer how you do this, whether it's over Slack, WhatsApp, Skype, or another platform. However, the justifications for and significance of communication are still the same.
- Set Your Frame
Effective communication with your product designer helps prevent miscommunications and erroneous assumptions, among other things. This is most clear at the beginning of a project, when you establish the parameters of what and how you want it to be done.
Consider it as establishing the boundaries and regulations of your designer's "playpen." Or as defining the parameters that allow them to exhibit their creativity.
- Clarify Your Goal
You're employing a designer for a reason. And the most likely reason is that they are more experienced and skilled in product design than you are. Thus, you must have faith in them and allow them to carry out their duties.
For this reason, instead of telling the designer exactly what you (think) they should offer, explain your goals or the issue you're trying to solve.
Do you wish to arouse a specific feeling? In order to distinguish your logo from those of your rivals as unique? Or to encourage visitors to visit a section of your website that they are presently avoiding? These are the kinds of revelations that enable a designer to apply their knowledge to solve your issues.
- Understand How Designers Think
Like those in any specialized field, designers have an almost limitless variety of technical terms, abbreviations, and expressions that may be unfamiliar to the general public. Examples include CMYK, kerning, golden ratios, and more.
Although it's not necessary to master all of these—in fact, one of a designer's responsibilities is to communicate their work in a way that is easy for everyone to understand—it can still be helpful to become familiar with some of the key ideas.
Knowing how designers think is just as crucial as knowing what they say.
For you, a website's success may be determined by how many hits it receives or if it conforms with legal disclosure requirements.
- Bring Your Designer into the Fold
One of the main advantages of freelance product designers, according to businesspeople, is that they are accustomed to working alone and know how to take an idea and run with it.
However, this does not imply that you should completely isolate a freelancer from your company.
Consider how you might get the designer "into the tent" and give them a sense of belonging to a larger group effort, especially if you have an established in-house design team that the freelancer is assisting or a larger pool of freelancers. This could be inviting them to participate in private conversations, adding them to internal chatgroups, allowing them to join internal team calls, or assisting them in comprehending the culture of your company.
In addition to helping a freelancer feel more appreciated and avoiding some of the problems that can occur when working relationships are completely "faceless," the knowledge they acquire about your company's operations and values can also provide the designer with crucial direction and project inspiration.
Feedback: Give it Right, Give it Often
Giving a product designer feedback is the same as giving any other employee input; the important thing is to be prompt, targeted, and detailed.
Although regular, iterative feedback may seem more time-consuming to you, it is much easier to address problems and make changes as you go rather than receiving a final draft that doesn't satisfy your needs. As previously mentioned, it is always worthwhile to agree up front with your designer regarding the timing and manner of feedback.
That is it. With this tips you are prepared to hire a freelance product designer.
