JANUARY 18, 2023

A designer’s work environment can dictate a lot about what they do on a daily basis, who they work with, and their pace of work. 

 

There are three types of places you might work at over your career as a designer:

1. Agency

2. In-House

3. Freelance

 

Each job environment is unique in its own way and may be right for you depending on your experience, period of your career, and what you want to get out of your job. 

 

Key Difference 1: Who You Work For

🌻 In house: Work as an employee at one organization or company. You're typically working for stakeholders within the organization itself.

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🌊 Agency: Work as an employee at a client-facing company. You're employed at the agency, but work for clients.

 

🍏 Freelance: Work for yourself and source contracting work.

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Key Difference 2: Who You Work With

🌻 In house: Likely part of the Technology or Design team, depending on the size of the organization. You might be also embedded on a team dedicated to a particular product. You'll collaborate with people of all disciplines.

 

🌊 Agency:  Likely part of the Technology or Design Team. Similar to in house, you’ll work with people from all disciplines to collaborate on the deliverables.

 

🍏 Freelance: More flexibility in how your time is split between clients and projects. You may work with an existing team at the organization you’re contracting for, or you may really be working on your own.

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Key Difference 3: Types of Projects You Work On

🌻 In house: You may have a couple different projects at one time and you tend to work solely with your colleagues. Might work on several projects related to one product.

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🌊 Agency: You'll likely have several clients at one time, each with its own product(s). Focus is delivering quality within budget and time constraints outlined by contracts. Work on project teams for different clients.

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🍏 Freelance: You have the final say in what you’re working on and when. Just make sure you build in safeguards to any contracts.

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Key Difference 4: Pace of Work

🌻 In house: Pace of work is typically slower and more deliberate, and you get to take your time to dive deep on your projects.

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🌊 Agency: Pace of work is typically faster, as you are beholden to the clients and must stick to predetermined timelines and budgets. 

 

🍏 Freelance: You typically have to find the work, handle contracts and all client communications. You set the pace of work in negotiations with your clients.

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Biggest Pro of Each Environment

🌻 In house: This is the best way to dive really deep into your craft and focus on a particular set of audiences, products, and stakeholders. You’ll become an expert in the organization.

 

🌊 Agency: This is a great place to start your career and really learn a lot, as you’ll likely have multiple clients, projects, and teams, and the pace of work is faster. Agencies sometimes get a bad rap as a breeding ground for burnout, but IMHO it’s a great place to learn and build your portfolio.

 

🍏 Freelance: Freelancing is important to check out once you’ve got some experience under your belt, so you can learn more about other parts and see if you like it, as it comes with the most independence and can always be a great side gig!

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Final Thoughts

Each job environment has its place in a User Experience Designer’s career and is important to explore to see which is the best fit for you.