Best way to find a UI/UX designer?

StickyIcky

Hi

I'm starting a small online company which I'm hoping will make everyone involved happy all our staff a very comfortable salary but I need the help of a UI/UX designer to help make it a success. I'm on a limited budget and I'm looking for a UI/UX designer who is good but isn't mega expensive either. I'm hoping the real reward of this position will be being part of an exciting start up and when we become profitable we all get nice big pay bump and there will be a profit sharing scheme as well to reward and motivate us even further.

At first the position will be part time and after launch when we are profitable the job will become a full time position.

I want this person to be creative and contribute ideas towards building the success of the company. The team starting off will be small and its' vital everyone pitches in ideas and helps to get this thing off the ground.

If anyone here is interested in discussing this you can PM me.

Also I'd like it if anyone could tell me ways of going about finding people to talk to and interview for this position.


Thanks a million

Trojan

You need to be aware that this kind of offer is something that designers and developers frequently get pitched. Once a week there's a similar thread on here about it. Good creatives will have rich pickings, so it's going to be hard to get someone who could earn a nice salary to give part or all of that up to risk it on your project.

That said, there's a few things you can do. Some examples: you could set a lower barrier by looking for people with lots of talent but less experience, or you could structure a compensation offer in such a way that it is more attractive but doesn't cost you a lot off the bat (Dragon's Den has great examples of different conditional offers). Or you could go pitch it to investors and try and get the funding to pay those decent salaries.

One of the best things you can do is start going to some of the web & tech networking events that are run fairly frequently. Chat to people, discuss the problems you're trying to solve and see if they know anyone who might be interested. Another useful thing to do is get a mentoring session with your local county enterprise board, they're great for bouncing ideas off someone with a business background.

StickyIcky

Trojan wrote: »

You need to be aware that this kind of offer is something that designers and developers frequently get pitched. Once a week there's a similar thread on here about it.

Hi Trojan. Thank you for bring this to my attention. Obviously I wasn't expecting this would be the first post of it's kind but wasn't expecting once a week.

Trojan wrote: »

Good creatives will have rich pickings, so it's going to be hard to get someone who could earn a nice salary to give part or all of that up to risk it on your project.

Finding a suitable team is one of the most important steps in this project being a success. It's also one of the hardest for the reasons you've pointed out.

Trojan wrote: »

That said, there's a few things you can do. Some examples: you could set a lower barrier by looking for people with lots of talent but less experience, or you could structure a compensation offer in such a way that it is more attractive but doesn't cost you a lot off the bat (Dragon's Den has great examples of different conditional offers). Or you could go pitch it to investors and try and get the funding to pay those decent salaries.

There are a few ways we could make it worth peoples whiles for sure. Anyone who is interested I'd happy to discuss payment and compensation strategies to make it worth their while.

I would be more than willing to hear from people with little experience but who are talented and motivated and who think the idea of being part of a small core team and building a successful business is attractive. I won't be able to afford people who are able to easily secure a completely risk free and very competitive and comfortable salary. Like most start up companies I don't have that buying power. What I'm offering is the potential for a higher level of job satisfaction and a chance to earn much more than the guy who took the comfortable salary.

This position has massive potential, I really believe that or I wouldn't be risking wasting my time and life savings on paying guys to help me get this started. I'm sure we've all heard that before on dragons den and thought this guy is delusional and his plan is never going to work. However for the people who are interested I'll give you information on our competitors who are already making millions and growing their team of employees at a fast rate. You'll also see none of our competitors are doing something as good as we have planned. There is a big gap in a huge market. I will glady provide information about this on request.

Regarding compensation structures, one of the members of our team is on a structure of compensation. Another member (and myself obviously) are working without pay until we're up and running and profitable. In total I need six team members, I have three for sure possibly four.

Regarding investors I'd prefer to get the beta version up and running before going to investors. I want to have something tangible to show investors with the UI/UX at least of the next stages of the project designed with early figures of growth etc. From my experience with investors it seems to work best when you already have something which is small but successful to show them.

Trojan wrote: »

One of the best things you can do is start going to some of the web & tech networking events that are run fairly frequently. Chat to people, discuss the problems you're trying to solve and see if they know anyone who might be interested. Another useful thing to do is get a mentoring session with your local county enterprise board, they're great for bouncing ideas off someone with a business background.

I'm in touch with the county enterprise board but would appreciate tips on finding these web & tech networking events you mentioned.

Also if you have any tips on where I would go about finding talented entry level designers who aren't far above my pay grade, that would also be appreciated.

Much appreciated Trojan, thank you very much.

Fussgangerzone

NDRC are pretty good for events for new companies and so on.
Inventorium are quite good, their Swequity events sound perfect for you, but I don't see any signs of a new one...

Fussgangerzone

Find Co-Founders might be a good way for you to meet like-minded folks. It's on in Dublin, in the next week.