Since they will be responsible for enhancing web design, tools, products and more for the sole purpose of improving the user experience (UX), your UX designer needs to be someone who understands this area. Now, when contracting a designer, most interviewers tend to focus largely on the resume, the portfolio of a person and sometimes, the gut feeling they have.

However, it’s always prudent to be a bit more selective when you’re contracting a UX designer. They will be responsible for crafting the image of your business. Given this factor, you should be looking for the following skill sets.

The ability to solve problems

Always test out the designer’s ability to solve problems, whether it is in relation to the product, the design or more. It’s also a great time to see if they’re able to think on their own or not. In this case, you want to see if they’re just going to fix the problem or are they going to question whether it is a problem or not.

Ask about their approaches to situations, what the challenge was, was there a clear solution immediately or did they need to explore routes to success? And so on.

Additionally, if two or three problems are presented to them, can they prioritise the importance of the problem and work accordingly? Posing these scenarios allows you to see their problem-solving ability with ease.

Interested in the company product

Most people usually focus on the skill sets of the candidate, but you should ask them about how interested they are in the product. This is essential because as a UX designer, they will be working on one aspect or another of that very same product.

Even the most skilled designer can feel bored and restless because of monotony at work, impacting their ability. However, if you hire someone who is interested in the product, there is a better chance that they will not only be more engaged at work, but they will also understand the business model, the web design and the target market and deliver the best solutions to you.

Attention to detail

Every little detail in your web design makes a difference when it comes to the customer experience. You need to make sure that you’re picking a UX designer who understands this. You can also look for signs of this when you are examining their portfolio. Look for minor details such as the following:

• The use of symbols and text fonts
• The spacing of the layout and other elements
• The files and their naming
• The organisation in the levels and files

In this manner, you will be able to gauge or get a good understanding of whether you’re getting a designer who will pay attention to the little things or not.

Understanding your users

At the end of the day, you want to have a UX designer who understands users and the target audience. Does the designer or company understand the unique wants and needs of your customers?

Additionally, you need to see if they are looking for ways to improve your design to add value to the users or are they just making it more aesthetically pleasing based on single opinions. Having clear objectives and audience research/personas will make sure the designer of company keep and focus and understands the target audience.

With the help of the above, you can easily ensure that you end up with a UX designer or UX company that adds value to your business not just creative ego.

We focus a lot on UX design at Lobo because it all based on analytics and research. Our creativity is led by strategy assuring the final products we create meet the needs of your users. Put simply, UX design encourages thought led design; our mantra.