Mobile application businesses are growing by each day, and while there are many specific jobs necessary to allocate for certain people, a business type application will usually need an application designer - more than anything else.
Looking through the salaries of app designers, we’re in no position to argue that $90,000 per year is a very good salary, especially if you love what you do. But, what to do if we’re not app designers, and we actually need to hire one? What is the top advice for hiring an app designer?
The market is growing, and so is the demand for experts and professionals alike. Lets remember the traditional rule of 10 year experience, to be called an expert. That means, every year we get thousands of more proficient, potential app designers available for hire.
Do You Need an App Designer Right Now?
The first, and probably the most important step is to make sure that we’re hiring an app designer at the right time, not too early, and not too late. Otherwise, we’re wasting a good chunk of money, for having the designer sit around and give philosophical advice, instead of doing actual, hard work.
Developer or Designer? Both?
Right, well, these days - developers and designers actually have their own little jobs to do, and it’s recommended to look deeply within the infrastructure of your business/application, to make sure that you’re hiring the right people at the right time.
Try Friends, Reddit, Twitter - First!
Okay, having decided what you really need, it’s time to look for the actual designer himself! Do this by applying any of the above methods I’ve mentioned in the headline. Your friends might know of good designers, or their friends might do (it’s called ‘networking’), but if all that fails - Reddit and Twitter are GREAT alternatives for finding the right people.
Listen to Feedback Carefully
Tough, take everything you hear about a person with a grain of salt, it might just prove to be a case where the designer is really good, just not particularly with the type of a design that you require. Which leads us to..
Analyze Every Candidate
Look at their previous work, their current projects and what their overall style of work looks like. Most app designers will have a portfolio of apps, websites and other work related stuff that can help to make a better decision, in less time.
Reach Out to the Potential App Designer
A simple email will do, it should most likely contain the phrase ‘are you available for any projects’, and perhaps even a phrase that hints to the fact that you’d like to hire this person full-time. But, you’ll want to setup an interview before making any swift decisions, as you do in professional workspaces, right?
Either Remote or In-Person, Interviews Matter
We’re assuming that the business you want to build based upon your app is going to require some maintenance for a while, and there should always be someone who could take care of the crucial parts of the application. In this case, the designer.
Interviews should conclude whether the given designer is proficient enough, knows programming or only design aspects, and what other experience he is able to bring to the table.
At the end of the day, those are people that you’ll end up working with, sharing your vision with, and most importantly - put on the payroll!
Setup a Demo Project
If you want to be foolproof about this, you should, beforehand, setup a demo project for the given designer to work with. Now, this applies only if he is interested in the actual job proposition, but most are fine with such ‘projects’ and will do their best to showcase their work on something you’ve taught of before.
Monitor the Progress of the Project
Your demo project is going to be a great way to get to know the designer more, learn more about his skills and experience, and definitely see how well he copes with types of technology you throw at him.
You Should Take Things Slowly
The last tip we’re going to leave you with is quite simple, you should take things slow. In app development, there isn’t a race going on. Most businesses who enter the mobile market understand this. It’s not like you’ve got millions of dollars to throw at marketing, to get yourself at the top spot. First, you’ll want to cater for a specific niche, and then let that niche grow by itself.
Conclusion
Hiring the right app designer is not difficult, it requires of you to know where to find potential employees, and how to approach them in a way where you both are on the same page. These days, cheap developers and designers will try to overshadow those who’ve been working with the latest technology since the early days.
Good luck.
