Outsourcing challenges in design and how to avoid them

Tapping outsiders to fulfill the design process needs of your business provides a lot of benefits. Aside from helping you cut talent and resource-related costs, design outsourcing also lets you tap into the expertise of providers who have serviced different clients in different industries, giving you access to vast design possibilities like never before.

However, because you’re bringing one of your company’s processes to a third-party organization, design outsourcing can also be challenging. Below are four common challenges that businesses face when outsourcing their design processes.

Problem #1: Talent availability

Hiring the services of a freelance designer or a creative agency is more economical than hiring an in-house designer, but this also means dealing with availability. This is because a lot of freelancers and creative agency designers typically handle two or more clients, so their availability is not fully yours, which means they won’t be readily available whenever you need them.

Solution: Look for a creative agency who can provide talent whenever needed

It would be wise to tap the services of outsourcing companies because many of them are flexible enough to be able to accommodate your design needs whenever needed, even during weekends and holidays. This means that if the talent that’s dedicated to you is currently not available, the agency will be able to provide a substitute. This also means being able to allocate additional talent if you deem it necessary.

Problem #2: Skill set and style

Every designer has a specialty, but sometimes that specialty does not really match what you have in mind. Your designated designer may have successfully captured the summer vibe that you gunned for, but that doesn’t mean he will ace that winter wonderland feel that you want. When this happens, the solution would be to look for another designer who is good at this particular design, and that could need more time and resources.

Solution: Tap a creative agency that has a wide-ranging design portfolio

When outsourcing your design processes, you need to pick a creative agency that can accommodate a wide range of skill and style requirements. One way of knowing this is by looking at their portfolio of designs as well as the trainings that their designers have attended and the certifications that they have. You can also check their current and past clients so you can get an idea of what the agency can do when it comes to design.

If the outsourcing provider has a great track record, then there’s a very high chance that it will provide the right skillsets and styles to meet your design requirements.

Problem #3: Communication

Outsourcing typically involves bringing a part of your processes, in this case your design process, to a provider that’s located far from where your organization is. This can be problematic since communicating with them will involve impersonal channels such as email or video calls and can result to the client and the outsource provider not being on the same page.

Solution: Look for agencies that use effective communication channels

Communication is important in any organization, but more so when it comes to outsourcing. That’s why the design outsource provider that you choose should have in practice processes that ensure a smooth communication flow between your organization and theirs.

These processes must also make communications predictable e.g. a weekly call or end-of-day emails, using widely-recognized communication tools such as Skype and Slack, to allow timely feedback and to ensure that both parties are aligned.

Problem #4: Expectations

As a client, you have expectations, and creative agencies must be able to meet those expectations. Some examples are deadlines for deliverables, design quality,  schedule of calls or meetings, and when a website will go live, to name a few. However, sometimes these expectations are not met. This is problematic because not only can this affect the timely completion of a project, it can also consume more time and resources.

Solution: Hire a creative agency that effectively manages expectations

When hiring a creative agency, you need to make sure that the said agency is doing all the necessary practices that allow them to manage your expectations effectively. Here are a few ways agencies effectively manage the expectations of clients:

1. They communicate constantly, allowing them to give updates on the status of a project as often as possible

2. They give comprehensive creative briefs that establish the objectives, what needs to be achieved, and how they will be achieved

3. They are not afraid to relay bad news, and are comfortable with telling you about them the moment they emerge, which makes coping up with delays and timeline offsets easier

4. They over-deliver, which not only meets your expectations but also exceeds them

Outsourcing your design processes is one of the best decisions that you will ever make as the manager of your business. Design outsourcing allows you to improve the bottomline of your business and also lets you focus more on your core activities. Your design horizons will also widen, making the sky the limit when it comes to design.

Interested about what other benefits outsourcing can provide your company? Download the eBook - A Practical Guide to Creative Process Outsourcing to find out more and join the thousands who have learned from something new.