Great UX talent is hard to identify and even harder to recruit. As the industry embraces the importance of the user experience, masters of the craft can take their pick of jobs at companies ranging from Google and Facebook all the way down to tomorrow’s most world-changing startups. As if hiring wasn’t hard enough, making the wrong hire carries a huge cost in both money and time. As the principal UX architect at Slide UX, Erin manages a team of designers who have worked and hired on both the client & agency sides. Leave this session with practical guidelines for when to hire in-house vs outsource, how to identify the type(s) of designers you need, and where to find them.

1. WHEN & HOW TO HIRE
A UX DESIGNER
Monday, August 8, 2016

3. TODAY
• Is this the right time to hire a designer?
• Preparing for success with your hire
• In-house, or outsource? (aka Buy or Rent)
• And your job title shall be…
• Leaders vs doers
• Making a hire that lasts
• Where to find ‘em

4. Hi, I’m Erin.
I’m a UX designer. I’ve been in this industry for
over a decade. I’ve been hiring UX positions since
2008 and I now run a high-functioning UX design
consultancy that employees the best 9 UX
designers in Austin.

5. IS THIS THE RIGHT TIME?
Tick tock, my friend. Tick tock.

6. You wouldn’t build a house
without an architect.
Professional UX & UI designers can help ensure that products are:
APPEALINGHELPFUL OPTIMIZEDEASY-TO-
USE

7. PREPARING FOR SUCCESS
Structure:
If you’re all used to design happening without a designer, you need
top-down organizational commitment to changing your habits.
"All the complaining about having to do someone else’s job is about
to turn into complaining about giving their work to someone else.”
Invite your design team to the strategy table, and expect them to
change the way things are done.
Authority:
Do they have the last call on user-interface decisions?
Do they need to get input from other stakeholders? Do they need
approval from every stakeholder?
Tools:
This may be Adobe Suite. This may be SaaS software for booking
customer interviews. This may be more whiteboards. Oblige.

8. PREPARING FOR SUCCESS
Structure:
If you’re all used to design happening without a designer, you need
top-down organizational commitment to changing your habits.
"All the complaining about having to do someone else’s job is about
to turn into complaining about giving their work to someone else.”
Invite your design team to the strategy table, and expect them to
change the way things are done.
Authority:
Do they have the last call on user-interface decisions? (Hopefully.)
Do they need to get input from other stakeholders? (Highly
advisable.)
Do they need approval from every stakeholder? (I hope not.)
Tools:
This may be Adobe Suite. This may be SaaS software for booking
customer interviews. This may be more whiteboards. Oblige.

9. PREPARING FOR SUCCESS
Structure:
If you’re all used to design happening without a designer, you need
top-down organizational commitment to changing your habits.
"All the complaining about having to do someone else’s job is about
to turn into complaining about giving their work to someone else.”
Invite your design team to the strategy table, and expect them to
change the way things are done.
Authority:
Do they have the last call on user-interface decisions? (Hopefully.)
Do they need to get input from other stakeholders? (Highly
advisable.)
Do they need approval from every stakeholder? (I hope not.)
Tools:
This may be Adobe Suite. This may be SaaS software for booking
customer interviews. This may be more whiteboards. Oblige.

10. TO BUY OR TO RENT
In a bustling gig economy

11. TO BUY OR TO RENT
Why you’d outsource
Once this project is launched, we expect ongoing demand for this
type of design to be minimal.
We HAVE in-house design resources, but we’re short and need
to get through a bump in demand.
Our in-house team is swamped with daily work, but we’re trying
to accomplish something new & unprecedented. We need
someone to come in and grease the wheels for us with new
thinking or user insights.
We foresee a wide variety of design work and we can’t afford to
hire a person who can bring it all.
Why you’d hire in-house
Our main offering is a product that will be continually improved.
We foresee lots design work, of a consistent type. For at least 2
years, I can imagine keeping a person busy for 40 hours/week.
We intend to grow a team in the future, and we need to get
started with a leader.

12. SO MANY TITLES
“I’m a primarily interaction designer but I’m moving toward content strategy.”

13. WHY YOU GOTTA GO & MAKE THINGS SO COMPLICATED?
Some titles are confusing aliases, but some do
represent unique skills.
User Experience Designer
Content Strategist
Information Architect
Creative Director
Interaction Designer
Rapid Prototyper
UI Designer
Product Designer
Branding Specialist
Illustrator
Visual Designer

14. THE LEADER TO DOER SPECTRUM
“Oh, so you want me to run a team?”

15. YEP, THERE ARE LEVELS IN THIS GAME
Associate Designer
• Can make great designs.
• Sits at their desks a lot,
doing stuff.
• Ideally, does LOTS of
stuff.
• Needs great leadership
to learn and grow.
Director
• Used to make great
designs, but now
critiques with a clear
mind.
• Advocates well for their
team and the user.
• May do while managing.
• Knows how to grow their
team.
Jonathan
Ive
SeniorIntern

16. MAKING A HIRE THAT LASTS
It’s so much cheaper that way.

17. A HIRE THAT LASTS
Ask them to tell you the story of recent
projects.
• Can they articulate the objectives
clearly?
• Did they master the subject matter?
• Can they sell you on their design
rationale for tough choices?
Can they talk the talk?

18. A HIRE THAT LASTS
Ask them to tell you the story of recent
projects.
• Can they articulate the objectives
clearly?
• Did they master the subject matter?
• Can they sell you on their design
rationale for tough choices?
Ask to see some recent samples of work
they produced themselves.
• A great designer will be able to
achieve the look their client needs.
Do they have diverse samples?
• Does their work show attention to
detail? That part can’t be taught.
Can they talk the talk?
Can they really sling
pixels?

19. A HIRE THAT LASTS
Ask them to tell you the story of recent
projects.
• Can they articulate the objectives
clearly?
• Did they master the subject matter?
• Can they sell you on their design
rationale for tough choices?
Ask to see some recent samples of work
they produced themselves.
• A great designer will be able to
achieve the look their client needs.
Do they have diverse samples?
• Does their work show attention to
detail? That part can’t be taught.
At the end of the day, you have to work
with this person.
• Can they point out weaknesses in
past work, or are they always the
smartest one in the stories they tell?
• Can you imagine bringing them into
a meeting with higher-ups?
• Can they give you references?
Can they talk the talk?
Can they really sling
pixels? Do you like them?

20. WHERE TO FIND ‘EM
Are they lurking in plain sight? Nope. They’re, like, really busy.

21. “Hi. Can we talk?”
Rely on peers who understand your needs. Don’t
know who to talk to? Find those connections.

22. Meet them where they are.
UX folks who are open to opportunities might be
networking. If you need a local designer, Austin UX
provides a great list of places you might find them.
This is Vitorio Miliano. He maintains
this list, and would be embarrassed
to know that I used his photo here.

23. QUESTIONS
Comments? Concerns? Tomatoes?

24. THANKS!
Let’s stay in touch
erin@slideux.com
www.slideux.com
www.twitter.com/erinlynnyoung