You might wonder, why should you spend time and resources on a consultant instead of hiring a UI/UX engineer to do the work?
If you are sure your product or service is going to be an overnight success, you will probably spend the budget on a full-time specialist. But when you are experimenting with offers and target audiences, hiring a web design consulting specialist might be more convenient.
I have come across 4 cases when owners choose consulting services for business.
1. A fresh pair of eyes at a certain development phase. You may have only one full-time employee who volunteered or was assigned to perform UI or UX work. Most likely, you will need a consultant's help to audit the results and help meet quality requirements.
2. Discovery phase. We practice this phase at Solvd. Our clients receive assistance in developing their product ideas or
improving a minimum viable product (MVP) concept. At this stage of the customer journey, consultants resolve UX and architecture issues working in cooperation with a business analyst.
If clients choose this consulting service, they may expect to get a good development basis. It will involve User Stories, Personas and diagrams, non-functional requirements, high-level wireframes, architect reviews, and high-level project estimation.
3. Sharing expertise. Clients may need in-depth knowledge of consultants to do UX research and draw up a strategy. Experts can share UI/UX best practices and provide tips on gathering, organizing, and analyzing valuable data.
I call this case design strategy consulting. The UI/UX expertise of external specialists helps business owners plan meaningful product and service development steps.
4. Shaping an in-house team. It frequently happens that clients outsource MVP when they are not sure about a project's success and test business ideas. As projects mature, owners decide to hire UI/UX design specialists in house. They need team leads who have worked over an MVP and can consult throughout the migration process.
If that is your case, a design consulting specialist will help you create a workspace and establish business processes, given that your project is scaling up and the number of employees is growing.
But remember, you as a client should have already hired your key employees who will form the backbone of your future product team.