In-house or outsourced design?
How to decide if you should commission a design agency to handle your design, or manage a design project in-house
Depending on your resources and skills, you may choose to design in-house or find a designer externally.
Working with a designer or design agency
If you commission an external company to handle your design, they should bring you each new version of the design for review. Make sure that the designer has direct access to the decision-makers in your business so that communication is efficient.
If you plan to commission a series of design projects, it may be helpful to employ a design manager. The manager can act as the main point of contact between an external design agency and your company.
See more on how to choose and work with a designer.
Managing design projects in-house
You may have, or want to, set up an in-house design team, to embed the unique quality of your business in the creation of new products and services.
Your decision may depend on:
- whether you want design as a variable budget or a fixed overhead
- how confident you feel running design projects
- how the market you are in uses design services
In both cases, you should be diligent about documenting the design project and take care when drafting effective design documents.
When you are planning the design of a new product or service, it is important to be aware of intellectual property issues, ie who will hold the rights to the design. For more information, read about the design right and registration and protecting intellectual property.