Hiring a Designer

We have hired a COO, Product lead (need some expert help for the product I am building), multiple engineers in the past few weeks. We are on the cusp of rounding off our team with all these key early team members but boy, is it hard to hire a designer or what.

I have run orgs which have had large design teams, have worked with amazing designers at places like Google and Motorola, I have some great friends who are designers, and my past products required a lot of design work and so I think I know what it takes. Basically I should be pretty prepared to make this happen. But it is still hard.

• First off, I need a product designer who can do great interaction design work with some voice design thrown it. Just finding a great interaction designer with prior exposure to voice stuff is hard enough. I dare not throw in Visual design for which I am resigned to hiring an additional consultant. So the first step is to not try to hire everything in one go. Design is a collection of roles and you should decide which one you want right now and hire for that. We will need to supplement the rest with part time help.
• What complicates matters further is that it is really hard to evaluate good designers. So I went and created a slate of great designers (who are friends) to help evaluate people I shortlist. I know enough to be dangerous and so my role is to assess fit, early screening, product work, and then I ask my slate to test these folks out.
• Finally, I think its best to just do a small project with folks you get close with. Design exercises can never draw out enough for you to pull the trigger. I am currently doing a small project with a designer that I like. It will move the company forward, allow us to assess fit both ways, and showcase what the designer can really do in conjunction with the team.
• And yes, till we find the right person. It might be useful to move things forward by finding short term contracting help or work with an agency. As some of my advisors pointed out, there is no point blocking on finding someone who might take a lot time to come through. Just get started and keep looking in parallel!

So the summary, for startups looking for the mythical designer who can do user research, product design, interaction work and visual design:

• Thats not happening. Start looking for what you really need today
• Hire the core skill you need and supplement with contracting help
• Create a slate of designers who will help interview your shortlist
• Do a small project with the designer before you decide
• Don’t wait. Get some help in short term and keep looking in parallel

Thanks to Josh Kopelman, John Lily, Fred Gilbert, Braden Kowitz and others who have been so helpful in this search for this mythical designer who will be the force behind our product!