Agency, in-house, start-up… Not sure which is right for you? Let’s break down each type of working environment and help guide you to the right decision.
Agency
The agency environment is a great option if you’re starting out, since you’ll get the chance to work on multiple types of projects and with a variety of clients. This can be a great way to cut your teeth - you’ll get exposure to different types of businesses which can really help you to develop both your communication and design skills.
Agency life also brings the chance to network and build lasting relationships with your clients, something that will often bring benefits later on in your career.
Since you’ll be providing a product or service for someone else, there’s often an expectation to work quickly, and meet clear deadlines. This may seem like a negative, however it does mean that you’ll get the chance to work on a wider range of design problems in a short space of time. Repetition is key to developing new skills.
Start-up
The start-up life is often a common route for product designers to take. The opportunity to work on fresh ideas and have control of the design direction of a new product can be really attractive.
Working in a tech start-up as a product designer often means you can define the design direction for the majority of the user experience. This allows you to really get into the challenges your target market are facing and take time to build solutions that satisfy and even delight your users.
Depending on the sector, you can get really close to the people using your product which helps when running user research and ensuring you are building the right thing, as well as building the thing right.
Depending on the size of the team, you might spend a lot of time wearing multiple hats. This could mean helping out with sales materials, taking on product management duties, or even coding up the front end of your marketing website. This can be a great way to become of key part of the team, but also a great way of burning out, so keep this in mind.
In-house
Working in-house means you are part of a larger company, designing the products and services your organisation offers.
I’ve split the role of an in-house designer out into two categories: as part of a design team, and as part of a product team.
In-house design team
The in-house design team of a large organisation has a lot of similarities with the agency set up. Requests from various departments come into the design team and you would be responsible for delivering part of the solution to whoever requested it.
You won’t always get the full context of the requirements, which means you may need to follow up and discuss the problem and why the request has been raised.
Being surrounded by designers who you can learn from can be a benefit to this set up.
In-house product team
On the flip side, product and UX designers can be embedded into the product teams themselves, removing the barriers and loss of context that can come with a design team that exists separately to the teams building the software.
Similar to a start-up environment, embedded designers can have a lot of influence on the direction of the product. The responsibility will lie with you and your immediate team to understand the needs of the user and provide solutions that solve their problems and meet business goals.
This kind of working set up can be a great opportunity for building relationships, team collaboration, and crucially, learning from more experienced people around you.
You don’t have to choose one path and stick to it. I’ve worked in all of these environments in my career and have learnt so much from each, shaping the designer I am today.
So before you apply for your next role, stop and think about the kind of setting that will bring you the most benefits right now.