What’s it Like Being an Independent UX Designer

Interview with Jane Portman

Jane Portman has been working as an independent UX/UI consultant for over 5 years now. Within this time, she’s written three books, become a successful podcaster, and helped multiple software companies design profitable web applications.

We talk to her to get an insight into what prompted her to take up UX design, her experience in the SaaS ecosystem, her work as an independent consultant, and the challenges, tools & processes in her day-to-day workflow.

What led you to UX Design?

Jane: “I started working in design 12 years ago with a whole lot on my plate — I did branding, print design, websites, and illustration. Whatever came along, in fact! But then I realized what I love the most — making things work on screen. That’s what we call UX these days. I did a lot of mobile interfaces and desktop software before shifting to my current focus — web applications.

This year I stepped into the shoes of a SaaS founder myself — I run a product called Tiny Reminder. This brought a whole new level of insight on product strategy and business decisions behind every little feature.”

How did you come to be an independent UX consultant? What was your job profile before that?

Jane: “By 2012 I had grown into a creative director at a large agency in Russia, managing a team of designers and juggling multiple projects. Then my first son was born, and I realized that I don’t want to go back to the agency turmoil. Not that I didn’t like it — I was just tired and wanted to do my best work on my own (and leverage my knowledge of English).

So I started this huge journey of building authority online as an independent UI/UX consultant. I was already an established professional, but I had to learn the business side of things from scratch — writing sales copy, marketing, product strategy, the entire SaaS ecosystem.”

Jane speaking at DYFConf Europe — “What Should Your Sales Website Say And Do?”

As an independent consultant, what kind of challenges do you help clients with? What is the typical engagement like on a project?

Jane: “Most of my clients are established SaaS businesses who have already gained their initial traction and are ready to invest into more polished UI/UX. They usually come in through custom UI audits — it’s my most popular productized consulting gig. I review their product, write up a huge report with recommendations, and do a bit of design work as part of the premium package (wireframes or sometimes high-fidelity layouts). This is the “minimum viable improvement” they can do to their product. Then some of the clients decide to take it further and we do more work together — build new features, give more attention to specific areas, etc.

Typical problem areas include onboarding, navigation, dashboards, content layouts, and much more. Design goals are always tied to their business goals — successful customer activation and retention.

Sometimes I get to create products from scratch: research — wireframes — high-fidelity layouts in Sketch — implementation. It’s a fantastic process. But full-blown custom design is a big financial investment, and I think it’s wiser to start with something simple (like a theme) until the product starts bringing in measurable revenue.”

Can you give us a little insight about your book, “The UI Audit”?

Jane: “I published The UI Audit last year with a big goal in mind: help SaaS founders who don’t have money for expensive consultants. I teach them to approach web application design from a strategic standpoint. The method is based on the best industry practices, my experience, and a large number of custom UI audits I’ve done over the last few years.

It’s my third book, so I was very conscious to avoid my previous writing and publishing pitfalls. So far, am very happy about the result — the book generated over $15,000 in gross sales.

This book is a standalone self-help guide, not “a client magnet” — usually my clients and people who buy the book don’t overlap because of financial reasons. However, the method itself (and the authority generated by the book) are hugely useful in client work.

You’re welcome to see for yourself and download a free chapter with worksheets here. Should you decide to purchase, use your promocode ZIPBOARD39 to get 39% off any book package.”

What challenges do you face as an independent UX consultant when working with clients? What tools do you use for overcoming them?

Jane: “I must be very lucky, because the typical consulting challenges (inadequate clients, chasing invoices, etc) are mostly left behind. Because of my high rates and authority, I get very adequate clients who know me and my approach to design. I also charge upfront, which eliminates the need for chasing money after the project is done.

Productized consulting also comes very handy — I package up my services in fixed-price packages with specific process and terms. This makes a lovely base for the first-time interaction. In this article you can learn about the benefits and how to get started with productized consulting.”

How did you come about to doing your podcast, “UI Breakfast”? How has that experience been?

Jane: “I started UI Breakfast Podcast in the fall of 2014 as an experiment. The goal was to merely get comfortable with the format. Then I picked up a regular schedule one year later, and have been publishing consistently ever since.

It’s grown into a huge awesome thing which brings in a lot of listeners these days (and also significant sponsorship revenue). I’m very happy about it! Not to mention that I enjoy meeting people and having intelligent conversations with them.”

What is your collaboration workflow during a project? How do you work with developers/clients?

Jane: “I’m very old-school: my primary channel of communication is email, where I write up super-detailed comments about my work. Explaining your decisions is so key in the design process! I share the layouts for each round in Dropbox (they have a new built-in commenting system which works for contextual feedback). I’ve been also using InVision for the same purpose.

Tiny Reminder — a tool to help collect information from and collaborate with clients

My current toolbox includes Balsamiq, Sketch, InDesign (for fancy PDFs), Webflow (when I need HTML/CSS), Byword (for writing), Tiny Reminder (for collecting information from clients and podcast guests).

I try to make deadlines flexible, because we live in a real world and nobody likes the stress of “ship this tonight or die” (especially if you have a family and two kids, like I do). So it’s a very laid-back process. However, I’m very generous with deliverables and scope: my motto is “charge super-high rates and exceed the expectations.”

What social channels/blogs do you follow and recommend for UX/UI design?

Jane: “Among my friends, I highly recommend Design for Founders by Heidi Pun, User Onboard by Samuel Hulick, The UX Notebook by Sarah Doody. And of course, mainstream channels like Smashing Magazine and InVision blog. You’re also welcome to join my mailing list at UI Breakfast where I publish all my content.

I should mention that I don’t read up on design this much these days — I mostly read about marketing and business development. It’s essential if you want to make your clients happy by understanding their business.