UX consulting is a service that has been on the rise in the past few years. According to a survey, about 50% of clients plan to hire the assistance of a consultant for their business in the future. A UX consultant guides an organization using their expert knowledge to find and solve UX issues and elevate the overall productivity of the organization.
A UX consultant is beginning to emerge as a promising career path. In this article, we discuss five best practices of a UX consultant. If you are thinking of becoming a UX consultant or want to improve your consulting service, you will find this article informative and helpful.
Find Your Niche
Depending upon your passion and expertise and what you like to do, find your niche. There are several benefits to narrowing down your niche. It helps you market your service better and build a reputable name in a short span. It also helps to cut down competition and fix industry standard charge for your services. Think about what service you would like to offer as a UX consultant. Is it UX coaching, design audit, the conceptualization of designs, or anything else? Narrow down your field of expertise and strive to provide quality service in your niche.
Documentation and Legal Aspects
It is essential to be clear about all legal aspects of your business before you start providing UX consulting services. Make sure you have all licenses and permits, take care of your tax payments, and ensure that all contracts and NDAs are adequately established with the clients. It is also essential to document your day to day proposals and project statuses. It would be best if the documentation process is done digitally rather than the traditional pen and paper method as it would increase the efficiency and simplify matters to a large extent.
Branding
To drive UX design agencies towards you, you need to build a good brand image for your service. Creating a brand is not just about creating a logo. It should reflect the values of your service and how you want to be perceived. Branding should be done in such a way that it makes you stand out in your niche. It would be best if you created a UX portfolio to demonstrate your skills to your clients, print business cards, build websites/blogs to market your brand. The brand image should be consistent throughout. That helps in generating a feeling of authenticity and trust among clients.
Be Consistent
You have built your brand, you have landed your first client, and now what is the best way to impress them? Consistency! Be punctual in meetings and appointments. Be consistent in meeting deadlines and achieving milestones. Client satisfaction will grow when you give regular updates and meet expectations. Even if there is any problem, you should be willing to openly discuss the issue and find a solution. Although you are an expert in your field, you should adapt to the client’s perspective and find a middle ground that matches both your vision.
Time Management
Time management is crucial for UI UX consultants, especially when multiple projects are going on at the same time. BY being disciplined and creating a schedule, you will be able to meet the requirements of your clients without overstressing yourself. It also helps you to stay productive and focus. For time and schedule management, it is best to use digital tools such as Trello, LiquidPlanner, etc. It is important not to undertake more projects than you can handle. It will adversely affect all the tasks and deteriorate the quality of all work. So plan your time and take up projects accordingly so that they can be managed at ease.
These are the five best practises that a UX consultant can follow to improve the quality of their service and be the best at their job.
