The number of contractors within the UX marketplace continues to grow, as does the demand for their services.
At the start of the year, we’ve noticed a good range of contract options available, with a strong selection of contractors at most levels. As a result, contract briefs have an extremely quick turn-around time, emphasising the need for streamlined and flexible interview processes to secure the top talent.
Stellar mid-level contractors are still difficult to find however, as many perhaps make the move into contracting prematurely, before gaining the soft consultative skills to complement their technical capability.
The value of a detailed brief
A detailed contract brief is important both with regard to attracting the most relevant candidates, and in securing their services for your project. An appropriate level of detail will allow a recruitment consultant to make the right decisions on which candidates are most suitable for a project, and differentiate your project to others that are available. Indeed, if approaching a contractor directly, key questions that will be important to consider include:
– What is this project? What platforms will they be working on?
– What will they be expected to deliver? What is the UX process likely to be? Is it research led? Is it Lean / Agile?
– Who else is within this project team? Who will they be reporting to?
– Start-date, location and length of contract?
– Available day-rate?
– Will they need their own equipment?
– Interview process and next steps
This level of detail will make for a more efficient recruitment process.
That said, we appreciate that sometimes this level of detail isn’t always available; we often receive briefs that call for a true consultant – Someone who can advise on UX best practice and bring their own working methodology to a team or project.
These opportunities can also be attractive, but it is important to be sure that you can genuinely afford a contractor the space and freedom to lead a project, to set a process, and change the way in which you work before embracing this level of ambiguity.
Referenced candidates
We often speak with new clients who have previously had poor experiences with UX contractors in terms of reliability and quality of delivery; however, this is an avoidable circumstance.
It is now extremely easy to set up as a freelance professional, therefore it’s important to take steps to ensure that you’re employing reliable practitioners with a strong track record. Asking recruitment agencies to reference all contract professionals before finalising placements is an easy and relatively quick way of reducing the likelihood of receiving an unsatisfactory level of service.
Futureheads advise our contractors to set expectations for clients and to deliver on those expectations in order to secure future work with clients that they know approach projects in the right way. Revisiting proven contractors is always a useful first port of call, and this makes a case to make sure every contractor feels involved and is treated well when they’re a part of the team.
Contract Rates
UX contract rates seemed to plateau in 2013, as the number of contractors on the market increased significantly. However, there were exceptions within specialisms – such as mobile expertise and financial markets experience. Clients looking to hire within these specific project parameters have been willing to pay a premium to ensure they get the right consultant on board.
A number of large retail banking programmes in 2013 has led to a portion of the market obtaining unsustainably high rates, with a significant difference in client and candidate expectation outside of this sector.
Every project is different and contractors with varying financial expectations will bring different skills to the table; we’re certainly happy to advise on a case by case basis.
Conclusion
There are more UX contractors in the market now than previously, but this is offset by an increase in demand for their services, too. Supply and demand have an impact on day-rate, and we’ve seen rates plateau within recent months, except in the case of financial services and projects that require especially niche skill-sets.
Top contractors are rarely out of work, and it is important to give an appropriate level of detail when giving a brief in order to attract the most relevant candidates and make a compelling case for prioritising your project.
When selecting a candidate, be sure to take the necessary steps to ensure they will deliver to the expected level; ensure you have references, and, providing a contractor impresses, be sure that they have a good reason to want to work with you again.