Working with a UX Designer: What You Can Expect (and What You Can't)

You have hired a developer and you know how that goes. You have hired a copywriter and there the process is relatively clear. But when you hire a UX designer for your SaaS product for the first time, you suddenly have a series of questions that no one has given a direct answer to.

What exactly do you get? How long does it take? What is required of you? And why does it cost so much?

This post exists precisely because of that. No sales pitch, no vague promises, just a concrete overview of what working with a UX designer looks like, step-by-step, from the first email to the delivery of final files.

Why so many SaaS founders start off on the wrong foot

The most common scenario I see: a founder comes with an idea, a tight deadline, and the sentence "I just need it to look nice." In two weeks, misunderstandings begin. In a month, no one is satisfied.

The problem is not a bad designer. The problem is that no one set expectations.

UX design is not decoration. It is not the last step before launch. It is a research and strategic process that concerns how your user thinks, where they get lost, and why they do not finish what you intended for them to do. The sooner you understand this, the faster you will have a product that actually works.

Phase 1: Discovery, understanding before drawing

Every serious UX designer starts here. Before Figma is opened, it is necessary to understand the context.

In this phase, you can expect:

• A 60 to 90-minute kick-off call, during which the designer asks questions about your business, users, competition, and goals. This is not a chat, but the foundation of everything that comes.

• Review of the existing state: if you have a product, the designer will go through it as if they were a user. They will note where they hesitate, where they are confused, where they give up.

• Problem definition: not "make me a better onboarding", but "users do not finish the setup because they do not understand the value of step 3."

What is required of you: time and honesty. The more you share (analytics, user interviews, feedback you have received), the better job the designer can do. If you are not sure what you need to have ready, the checklist for preparation before ordering a website will help you. Most items also apply to a digital product.

Duration: 3 to 7 days, depending on the complexity of the product.

Phase 2: User research, data instead of assumptions

This is the part that many founders want to skip. You shouldn't.

User research does not have to be expensive or time-consuming. Five well-placed interviews with real users can change the entire design strategy. The designer will either conduct the interviews themselves, or analyze the data you already have: conversations with customer support, NPS comments, session recordings from Hotjar or a similar tool.

Based on this, a user journey map is created, i.e., a visual representation of every step your user goes through, along with the places where they get stuck and decision points.

This is perhaps the most valuable thing you will get from the entire engagement. Even if the design changes, the understanding of the user remains.

What is required of you: access to data and, ideally, contact with at least 3 to 5 existing or potential users for short interviews.

Duration: 5 to 10 days.

Phase 3: Wireframes, structure before look

Only now does the visual part begin, but still not the one you are imagining.

A wireframe is a black-and-white, bare-bones representation of screens. No colors, no fonts, no illustrations. Just the layout of elements, hierarchy of information, and the flow between screens.

Why like this? Because here it is easiest and cheapest to change things. Changing a button layout in a wireframe takes five minutes. The same change in the final design can disrupt everything.

In this phase you get:

• A wireframe for each key screen or flow (onboarding, dashboard, key action, account management, and similar)

• An interactive, clickable prototype: you can "walk" through the product before a single line of code is written

• Space for feedback and changes

This is the moment when you need to be most active as a client. Comment, ask questions, say when something does not match your vision. It is much easier to change a wireframe than a finished design.

Duration: 7 to 14 days.

Phase 4: UI design, now come the colors

Once the structure is approved, visual design begins. This is the part that founders usually can't wait for, and I understand why. It finally looks like a real product.

Here is what is created:

• Design system: a set of colors, typography, components (buttons, forms, cards, tables) that ensures consistency throughout the product

• Final (high-fidelity) screens: the final look of each screen, ready for implementation

• Developer specifications: notes, measurements, interaction descriptions, export of graphic assets

Good UI design is not just aesthetics. The color of a button affects conversion. Font size affects how quickly a user understands information. The spacing between elements determines whether the interface feels professional or amateurish.

What is required of you: brand guidelines if you have them (logo, colors, font) and feedback on the proposed visual identity directions.

Duration: 10 to 21 days, depending on the number of screens.

Phase 5: Handoff and support

A designer's job does not end with the delivery of the Figma file.

A serious designer will:

• Organize a handoff meeting with your developers where they explain the logic of the screens and answer questions

• Be available during implementation for questions and minor fixes

• By agreement, also do a QA review, that is, check whether the implementation matches the design

This is the difference between a designer who delivers a file and a designer who delivers a result.

What you cannot expect

Let's be honest about this too.

You cannot expect miracles in two weeks. If your onboarding fundamentally does not work, there is no quick fix. It takes time to understand, solve, and test the problem.

You cannot expect the designer to bring all the answers. The designer works with the data they have. The less information they get, the greater the assumptions and the higher the risk.

You cannot expect not to be involved. This is perhaps the biggest myth. Many founders think they hire a designer so they can focus on something else. In fact, the most successful projects are those where the founder is an active interlocutor: available, open to feedback, and ready to defend business decisions.

And you cannot expect the design not to change. Good design is alive. It will be tested, measured, and upgraded. Accept that as an advantage, not a flaw.

How do you know you are hiring the right designer?

Finally, a few practical signs:

• Asks about your users before talking about aesthetics. A bad sign is if they immediately ask for a brand book and start picking colors.

• Has a clearly defined process that they can explain in five minutes.

• Can show results, not just beauty. Case studies involving conversions, retention, or user metrics are more valuable than a portfolio full of visually impressive screens.

• Asks uncomfortable questions. "Why this specific feature?" or "Do you have proof that users want this?" are signs that they are thinking about your business, not just their job.

If you want to see what this process looks like on real projects, check out the UX/UI design of the CRM platform SimpleCRM and the design of the application Balkanaukcija, a vehicle auction platform of the company Balkanauto.

Conclusion

Working with a UX designer is an investment in understanding your users, in the structure of the product, and in long-term growth. But like any investment, it yields results only if you know what you are buying.

Now you know.

The same process applies when a designer is not hired by a founder, but by an agency that needs backup on a project. Read more about this in the text when an agency needs an external designer.

An example of working on a SaaS product is the design of the CRM platform SimpleCRM.

If you are in a phase where you are thinking about your first or next design engagement for your SaaS, feel free to contact me. I will gladly go through your specific case and tell you honestly at which phase collaboration would make the most sense.