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Is it Better to In-House or Outsource UX?

A critical decision that organizations face is whether to maintain an in-house UX team or outsource this function to subcontractors. While subcontracting might seem appealing for its potential cost savings and flexibility, keeping your UX team internal offers significant advantages that align seamlessly with the core principles of Agile development. Here’s why an in-house UX team is the superior choice for Agile projects.


1. Seamless Collaboration and Communication


Agile thrives on constant communication and collaboration. An internal UX team is embedded within the development environment, fostering real-time interactions with designers, developers, product managers, and other stakeholders. This proximity ensures that feedback loops are short, misunderstandings are minimized, and decisions are made swiftly.

At a mid-sized tech company, the internal UX team worked hand-in-hand with developers during daily stand-ups. This close collaboration allowed them to iterate on designs rapidly based on immediate technical feedback.


2. Deep Understanding of the Product and Users


An in-house UX team has the advantage of immersing themselves deeply in the product and its user base. They develop a nuanced understanding of the company’s mission, product nuances, and user behaviors over time, enabling them to create more intuitive and effective designs.



Often internal UX team can invest months engaging with users, understanding their workflows, and identifying pain points. This deep dive allowes them to design features that truly addressed user needs. In contrast, a subcontracted team, unfamiliar with the product’s intricacies, struggles to capture the same level of detail, resulting in generic designs that lack the desired impact.


3. Greater Alignment with Agile Principles


Agile emphasizes adaptability, continuous improvement, and iterative progress. An internal UX team is more agile in nature, capable of adjusting priorities and pivoting based on the latest sprint reviews and user feedback. They are integral to the sprint planning process, ensuring that design and development efforts are perfectly synchronized.


Both internal and subcontracted UX teams find it challenging to stay in sync with the rapidly changing requirements. The problem can be more severe when the UX team is subcontracted.


4. Consistent Vision and Brand Cohesion


Maintaining a consistent vision and brand identity is crucial for any product’s success. An internal UX team is more likely to internalize the company’s values, culture, and branding guidelines, ensuring that every design decision reinforces the brand’s identity. This consistency built user trust and loyalty.



Subcontracted teams, juggling multiple clients, may struggle to maintain this level of consistency. And during rapid scaling phases, the UI designs tend to be more fragmented, diluting the brand’s impact.


5. Long-Term Cost Efficiency


While subcontracting might offer initial cost savings, long-term efficiency and quality often favor an internal UX team. Investing in in-house talent leads to better retention of institutional knowledge, reduced onboarding costs for new projects, and higher overall productivity.

Over time, the subcontracted team’s lack of familiarity with the platform’s unique challenges led to inefficiencies and increased costs due to repeated revisions. Switching to an internal UX team not only improved design quality but also streamlined workflows, resulting in significant cost savings and faster time-to-market for new features.


An internal UX team not only aligns more closely with these Agile principles but also brings a level of consistency, accountability, and cultural integration that subcontracted teams struggle to match. Given all the advantages of in-house UX teams for agile development, is it always better to have an in-house team? We will share more in our next blog post.



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