If you have been advised to look into using a UX agency, or even UI, you may find yourself asking ‘what is a UX design agency?’.
Basically, if this is you, you’re essentially looking at three different areas: what exactly is UX? What is UX design? and what does the results of quality UX look like, when carried out and deployed by specialist agency? If you have a business and are heavily invested in the online element of it and website side of the business, then you’re right to be considering the help of UX and UI specialists. But of course, it can be a minefield if you’ve never looked into either of these, or have no prior knowledge as to how they can help.
It’s worth remembering that even though you may be at the stage right now where you are looking into services like UX, UI, SEO, social media and so forth, it’s important to nail the basics of your business in terms of branding before you take these steps. It’s all about being confident with the look and feel of your brand first, before diving deeper into how it looks online, on apps, and when exposed to your target audience or general public. A great place to start is to get a digital branding package fully covered, which ticks off nailing your target customer by a range of activities including brand audit, competitor profiling, surveys, focus groups or brand workshops.
Some people will want to do this themselves, or employ someone to work as part of their team. Others will use an agency who are specialised to really focus on conducting thorough research on your target audience and completing a full brand profile for you (including logo design – which is an important one!)
If you need to know more about working with agencies and in particularly, ‘what does UX design actually do?’, have a read below and decide if an agency is right for you.
What is the difference between UX and UI?
Firstly, you’ll need to get your head around the difference between UX and UI, because they are very closely linked, but it helps to know the differences. UI refers to the screens, buttons, toggles, icons, and all the types of visual elements that you see and use with websites. This applies to apps and other electronic devices too.
UX on the other hand refers to the full interaction you have with a product, how you feel navigating around, how the useability can improve – basically everything related to user research, problem-solving and product architecture.
In a nutshell, remember UI is about the visually pleasing side of a website/product, and the aesthetic of a website or digital product. UX dives deeper into the functional and usability side.
What can I expect a UX design agency to do?
UX agencies are key for many who run digital products because they are skilled to help you create functional, friction-free and valuable experiences for users. A digital journey for any website, app or piece of software should adhere to formal UX principles, if you want to ensure everything is done correctly.
They work best by taking into consideration a full brief from yourself – the client. They will take on board your UX design requirements, but may shape up the final design brief and guide you on what those requirements need to be, and what is do-able. If you are a start-up or small business and very new to the digital world and feel like UX is a minefield, it’s worth investing in a worthwhile UX design agency as they should be able to advise on all coherent UX design, research, deep analysis of your brand and audience, look into the marketplace and competitors, and keep customers and users at the forefront.
A good agency will want to work with you, not separately. So that you are always on the same page. They can implement a mix of practical development, testing and prototyping, without ‘loosing’ you.
What services should you expect from outsourcing to agencies
If you’re focusing more on services from UX design agencies, they should be spending their time and your budget on a fully comprehensive design phase that takes into consideration the user journey, interface problems and userbility.
A branding agency will be more focused on the way your brand will be perceived by the public. The design, the colour scheme, the impact, the target customer, the marketing funnels, the channels to use, and of course, crafting the personality of the brand
SEO, website design and social media agencies are other areas of the digital space that you might consider. SEO focuses on search engine results, so they will fully audit your site and look at keywords, content ideas, backlinks and how you are ranking against competitors. They should have site traffic and search results in mind. Website design is completely designing your website to be user friendly and work with the look and feel of your brand. Some website design agencies will overlap with branding, too. Social media is working with your website and taking this to the social media platforms. It’s a different ball game altogether, working with photography, videos, engagement and captions to reach audiences that your website may not.
Only you will know yourself what you are capable of as a business individual, and this is where agencies and experts can help to elevate your business so you’re not struggling on your own. That said, some business owners learn skills themselves so they can reduce the external help they need. It’s all about budget and time, so it’s a lot to think about, and all part of launching into the digital business world.
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