Ask HN: How do I (software engineer) work with the designer?

2 points by atrust 10 years ago | 4 comments

Hello HN. I'm building a fairly large application as a side project and going to hire a designer. This is my first experience in doing so and I'd like to get some advice here, if possible. We work in the same company as of today. He proposed a $50/h rate and is going to charge me for all the 1-on-1 meetings we'll be having together throughout the whole project. 1-on-1 meetings are required to build the proper UX first and leave the UI as the very last piece of work.

The thing I'm struggling with is the $50/h rate I'd have to pay him for the time on these meetings. I know that we definitely have to go over everything together. But is it a common practice to pay the same rate for an hour meeting and an hour of him doing the actual work (i.e. wireframes, prototypes, flows, etc.)? What keeps pushing me back is the fact that I hire someone in order to save my own time. Should I negotiate the price when we have 1-on-1s? I have a very limited budget and do not want to f*k it up.

Greatly appreciate any feedback on this topic.

joshuanomed 10 years ago |

The designer is going to extract enough money from you to make it worth their time to work on the project. If you refuse to pay for meeting time, or reduce the amount you'll pay for meeting time, they'll just translate that loss of income into longer labor time.

Put another way: that one on one meeting time is labor, they're trying to understand what it is that you want to build and clarify the requirements so that when they do the "labor" they get it done well the first time.

Put yet another way: when you meet with a product manager to get the requirements for code that you're supposed to write, do you do so for free or a reduced salary, because it's not "real" labor?

bikamonki 10 years ago |

Why not using a GUI/Theme and hire the designer for tweaking only? A web/mobile app needs a 'graphical system' that follows best-practices and modern UI design paradigms (say for example Material Design). I am sure you'll also need controls, layouts, forms, etc. You could simply buy such theme (or use a free one) and once your app is running just go ahead and tweak it graphically with the aid of an experienced UI designer.

brudgers 10 years ago |

Not only is it reasonable, on a time and material basis travel time to and from meetings should also be billed along with travel expenses and the markup on billable expenses. Meetings and travel and email are part of the actual work. Services are not products.

Good luck.

PhilWright 10 years ago |

If you have a meeting with a lawyer, doctor or accountant then you pay for the time of the meeting as well as the time needed to perform the actual work itself. So it seems pretty standard to me.