According to a 2021 report, 89% of the CTOs plan to outsource their companies’ product design and development.
This approach not only reduces the expenses and ensures more significant ROI but also accelerates the market launch and provides greater customer satisfaction with the end product.
In this article, we will go over a 4-step product design outsourcing process, cite some reasons why you should outsource your product design, and discuss how to do it properly.
Table of Contents
How to Outsource Product Design in 4 Steps
The product design outsourcing process consists of these steps at its most fundamental level.
Step #1: Do the Research
Before establishing the design and engineering effort required to bring your product to the market, you must correctly identify the product's marketing and technical requirements.
This will serve as a brief for your external design team to follow. With these criteria in hand, you can begin planning design work, capital, and third-party expenditures that the outsourced product design team will consider when coming up with their solution.
Step #2: Plan the Outsourcing Process
At this stage of development, your need to create your product's conceptual design and a specifications document. It describes your product and specifies what it should perform and how the user should interact with it.
It should also touch upon the overarching project plan, mainly if your project is in its early phase. Planning the parameters of your project ahead of time makes it easier to select the ideal digital product development team and allows you to be upfront about your expectations from the beginning.
Step #3: Outline Your Budget
At this stage, you need to decide on a budget that depends on the product's complexity. This comprises total and special costs and hourly earnings for each person on the job. That is why finding an outsourcing business with the highest quality-price ratio is critical.
Determine in advance what you can afford today and in the long term, taking into account all costs so that you can change the plan according to your cash flow.
Step #4: Get Your Team
Finally, you can begin the hunt for an organization that could bring your vision to reality logically. Later in the article, you will find concrete advice on locating a competent product design outsourcing company to execute this phase effectively.
7 Reasons for Product Design Outsourcing
Below is a list of scenarios in which it's best to delegate a product design job to an experienced outsourcing team.
1. Your Team Lacks In-House Resources or Knowledge
Think about whether your product design team has all the necessary abilities. It's one thing to develop a product design concept; it's another to make it a reality.
Product / UX design is a continuous cycle of analysis, design, testing, and delivery. As a result, the team working on this should possess the following capabilities:
- Prototyping
- Deep scan
- Proper documentation
- Testing
If your team lacks knowledge and experience in at least one of these areas, it may be worthwhile to outsource your product design to a product design outsourcing company.
2. Your Project Must be Completed Within a Short Timeframe
If the product design project must be done by a tight deadline, you may need the assistance of a company that offers outsourced product design services. You can work on many stages of the product design simultaneously, complete them faster, and speed up the project by delegating some of the tasks.
3. You Are Launching a Product to a Difficult Market
Some industries have substantial barriers to entry for new products, making it challenging to develop projects.
For example, various regulatory hurdles for developing medical solutions must be addressed during the design process, resulting in lengthy project delays.
Outsource the project to software development and design firms if you are unsure whether you can progress beyond the Proposal or Prototype stage.
4. You Need an Outside Perspective
When attempting to develop innovative products, it is critical to have an outside perspective to bring originality to your sector and business.
Working in the same industry for an extended time will provide you experience. However, your reasoning and the models you employ may become repetitive and shortsighted.
The ability of a third-party vendor to take ideas and approaches from other sources and look at things from a user experience viewpoint gives additional enthusiasm to the design process.
5. Gaining Access to Top Design Talent
Hiring competent individuals to develop physical or digital solutions is not an easy undertaking. They must be culturally suitable for your brand and have the necessary experience and skills to support your projects.
Even if you hire the greatest talent in your business, you will need to train them on internal processes and invest in their education.
You may simply obtain the greatest skills in UX design and development through outsourcing. The right provider will provide you with a crew always learning new skills and staying up to date on the latest design trends and advancements. These experts will ensure that your product is of superb quality and up to date.
6. Quicker Time to Market
Establishing a team of internal experts and setting up product development equipment can take months. If you do the job yourself, even the most subtle design can take up to a year to go through the prototype stage.
If you choose a third-party vendor, you can usually obtain your prototype in weeks. Some easy tasks can be completed in two weeks, while more complex projects can take four to seven weeks, depending on their scale.
7. Simple Scalability
When you collaborate with an outsourcing business, your product team may swiftly scale up and down. The organization examines the needs for your product and adds additional technical experts independently based on the requirements.
How to Find an Outsourced Product Design Partner
After finding potential product design companies or freelancers, consider how long they have been in the sector, how many projects they have accomplished and what their past clients think about them.
To evaluate talent, look over the team's portfolio, read evaluations from prior clients, and visit their blog and LinkedIn page. Remember to match the team's expertise to your project's requirements.
There are two things you must be keenly aware of at this stage.
1. Learn About Each Vendor
You will obtain your first impression of possible suppliers by contacting selected individuals. Some may have insufficient experience in your sector, while others may simply be unavailable.
Inquire about their fees, experience, certification, communication methods and company culture. Then you may filter them based on how quickly and thoroughly they respond to your inquiries, when they are ready to take on a job and how well they are aligned with your requirements.
2. Determine the Expenses
Following some initial contact, you will have a short list of companies who may be able to assist you.
Request a final project price based on your specifications, including cost and time. Costs that are either high or excessively low should raise your suspicions. High cost does not usually imply high quality, and low cost almost invariably denotes inexperience.
What to Avoid When Outsourcing Your Product Design
Apart from the aspects of outsourcing product design that you should look for, there are also some you should evade.
Don’t Plan Recklessly
Strategy is too crucial to overlook. While this may seem apparent, many businesses overlook the value of having a straightforward plan with clearly stated goals and methods for achieving them. Before you begin the product design and development process, be sure your partner agency understands your plan.
Avoid Teams with Limited Skillsets
Product design should be outsourced to a business with substantial knowledge and experience. Even if you only require outside assistance for a limited time, the hired team members must be familiar with various industries, platforms and tools.
The point is that the companies you contact may not have made items similar to the ones you desire, but their diverse abilities and experience can benefit your project.
Look For the Best Deals
When looking for an outsourcing company, you should not be looking for the cheapest option. After all, the most affordable services on the market always indicate a lack of qualifications or experience.
When looking for product design outsourcing services, strike a balance in your pricing. It is a common misconception that the more you pay for software development, the better. Don't go too far in this regard, either.
Product Design Outsourcing Takeaways
Outsourcing a product design to a partner agency is especially advisable if you don’t have sufficient in-house capacities, are low on time, or are about to tackle a challenging market.
Going down this route comes with numerous advantages, such as more effortless scalability, faster time to market or getting a valuable outside perspective on your products.
These benefits, however, will only be attained if you approach the product design outsourcing process methodically and strategically, using the steps outlined in this guide.
