Top Tips for Success in Working with Digital Product Design and Development Services Companies

Selecting the right partner to create new digital experience for your business is crucially important in the success of your final product. By leveraging digital product design and development services, businesses can transform their ideas into scalable, user-friendly solutions. You’ll want to thoroughly vet any candidates to make sure they have the experience and capabilities to help you achieve a return on your investment of time and resources.

But selecting the right team is just the first step. To achieve your digital transformation objectives, it’s crucial that both the client and vendor put their best foot forward and have the right processes in place. Fortunately, at Hexaware, we have lots of experience in leading successful projects and our digital transformation services experts are happy to share what they’ve learned along the way. Before we take a look at their top tips, though, let’s set the foundation for what we mean by digital product design and development services.

What Are Digital Product Design and Development Services?

Digital product design and development services aim to create solutions that are both functional and user-friendly. To accomplish this goal, most companies offering digital product design and development services will work through a standard process that usually involves some common steps:

• Research and Discovery: This phase lays the foundation by understanding user needs, market demands, and project goals.
• Design: The focus in this step is on user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) with the goal of creating intuitive interfaces and seamless user experiences.
• Development: Involves building scalable and robust products using advanced technologies, ensuring adaptability for future growth.
• Testing and Optimization: Ensures the product meets quality standards, performs reliably, and delivers exceptional user experiences.

Together, these steps enable businesses to create impactful digital solutions that drive success.

Who Benefits from Digital Product Design Services?

While it would be great to be able to rely on your company’s current employees to bring digital products and experiences to life, for a host of reasons, it’s not always possible. Your company may not be staffed for a one-off project, you may not have the digital expertise in-house, and your teams may already be working at full capacity.

For businesses without the resources to manage digital product design projects internally, turning to a digital product development company or digital consulting services can be a game-changer. These companies bring expertise, tools, and strategies that can accelerate the development process and reduce risks.

Small businesses and startups, in particular, can benefit from idea validation services. Before investing heavily in development, validating your idea ensures that it aligns with user needs and market demands. This step can save time and resources while increasing the likelihood of success.

For all these reasons and more, companies of all sizes and industries need to bring in outside help from time to time. The tips our experts offer below will help you get the most out of working with an external partner.

Expert Advice for a Successful Project

When you tackle digital and software innovation every day, you pick up a few insights for how to do it well in your area of expertise. I was confident that leaders across some key functions at Hexaware just might have some pointers for helping great digital products come to life, and they did not disappoint. Here’s a closer look at their advice.

Before the Contract is Signed 

Something that can be forgotten is that a vendor/client relationship begins even before a contract is signed. In this presales stage, the foundation for the rest of the work is established. To understand some best practices, I spoke with Sharna Aeckerle, a Senior Director on Hexaware’s Digital & Software Solutioning Team.

Sharna has seen first-hand how important early interactions are to the overall success of a project. Tapping into her past roles in both customer experience and user experience, Sharna has first-hand knowledge of topics that are best addressed early in a working relationship. One of the most important, she stresses, is being open and sharing as much as possible, as early as possible about the problem without jumping to the solution. Sharing as much data around touchpoints that cause friction is critical in enabling a partner to diagnose the true problem and best solution. Sharna sums up her view, saying:

“Honestly, the best clients are people who see you as an advisor and not a vendor. When clients see their vendor as a true partner, it opens the door to deeper collaboration and lets them tap into the full range of expertise and insights the vendor brings to the table. This kind of relationship leads to better results for everyone involved.”

Once the contract is signed and the project kicks off, two teams come together to accomplish one task. While this may seem like a straightforward first step, integrating teams and ensuring they are aligned is a critical make-or-break moment. To gain deeper insight into what it takes to facilitate successful collaboration, I spoke with Michael Matute, AVP of Client Delivery, who emphasized the pivotal role of clear communication throughout the project.

“As with anything in life, you can believe that when it comes to client and vendor success, you reap what you sow. Even if you imagine a perfect world where your initiative has infinite time and budget (ha!), successful outcomes happen because of a healthy relationship. And a healthy working relationship, like any relationship in life, is founded on good clear communication and a shared understanding between two minds. Alignment is the outcome of good clear communication. This is why communication is so important,” Michael explained.

Michael outlined three essential steps to achieving clear communication between vendors and clients:

• First, simplify your message to remove ambiguity and structure it logically to minimize misinterpretation. A clear, straightforward message ensures everyone is on the same page.
• Second, verify that your message is not only received but understood. Acknowledgment should signal true comprehension, not just receipt. This principle, often seen in fields like aviation and law enforcement, ensures alignment and avoids confusion. Similarly, signal back your understanding of others’ messages to confirm mutual clarity.
• Third, embrace repetition and adaptability. People process information differently—some learn better through reading, others through listening—so your message should be delivered across multiple channels and formats. Repeating key points, even if it feels redundant, reinforces understanding and ensures your message resonates.

Ultimately, good communication requires effort, active listening, and adaptability. By prioritizing these principles, teams can foster trust, alignment, and successful outcomes, paving the way for a healthy and productive collaboration.

Defining the Challenge 

Once teams are aligned, it’s time to get to work on setting the foundation for a successful digital product. I spoke to Senior Experience Director, Scott Jaspan, about what he believes to be a crucial driver of project success: thoroughly understanding your user. There are many ways to get to know your users, and few are as effective as speaking with them live in one-on-one interviews or with more than one user in a focus group. Topics covered can include general thoughts and feelings or can involve having a user interact with and respond to a product or prototype to better understand their experience.

There are countless ways to conduct user research, which is helpful since it is such an important step in the product development process. Without a complete understanding of who a product is for and what problem it is solving, teams risk building solutions that miss the mark, fail to address real user pain points, or even alienate the intended audience. Prioritizing user research is your best bet to be sure that the final product resonates with users and accomplishes its intended goals. Scott emphasized the importance of this step:

“Skipping user research might seem like an easy way to save time, but it’s a gamble that could cost you the success of your digital product. Understanding your users isn’t optional—it’s the key to building something meaningful and effective.”

My conversation with Assistant Vice President of User Experience, Expert Elisha Phoenix, reinforced the importance of building on a strong user understanding in taking the next step: designing a user experience that will both act as an extension of your brand while facilitating the tasks they want to accomplish. A successful user experience extends beyond functionality—it becomes an extension of the brand itself. Just as brands take on characteristics and nuances like people, the experiences users have with a brand, especially in the digital space, strongly shape how they feel about it. As Elisha noted,

“Every digital experience you create—just like every store, every PR event—everything is curating experiences for people.  

To create these memorable moments — what Elisha describes as moments of achievement in alignment with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs — UX designers must anticipate user needs and craft seamless flows that guide users effortlessly to their goals. This involves designing not just the systematic elements—like buttons and navigation—but also curating emotional touchpoints that evoke trust and connection.

A digital experience, when thoughtfully designed, can be just as impactful as a physical one, if not more so. By aligning the brand’s identity with user expectations and creating intuitive, emotionally resonant interactions, UI/UX design services ensure that every moment within the user journey leaves a lasting impression.

Once the challenge has been thoroughly examined and the ideal solution designed, the build phase begins—a critical step where ideas take shape and are transformed into a tangible product. Partnering with a company that offers software development services ensures that the product is built using robust and scalable technologies. From front-end interfaces to back-end systems, software development plays a critical role in delivering a high-quality product.

The process of engineering a transformative digital experience requires a strategic approach to streamline workflows and eliminate bottlenecks. The process, at a very high level, is divided into two phases: technical design and build.

During technical design phase, a consultant will define and document a robust, scalable and secure framework and design which helps to achieve future functional expectations and achieve required security and compliances. A well-defined technical design allows smooth execution of the build phase and also allows solution to scale and meet required standards with less impact.

In the next phase, build, a consultant can guide teams in adopting agile methodologies, which emphasize iterative development and regular feedback loops. This collaborative framework ensures that teams can quickly respond to evolving requirements or unexpected challenges without sacrificing quality.

Consultants also bring valuable insights into the selection and implementation of tools such as project management software, automated testing frameworks, and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. These tools not only improve efficiency by reducing manual tasks but also provide real-time visibility into project progress, enabling proactive resolution of potential issues.

Skill development is another area where consultants can add value. By identifying gaps and providing targeted training, consultants can help teams stay ahead of emerging trends such as low-code/no-code platforms and AI-driven development tools. These innovations are reshaping the digital product landscape, and a well-prepared team is better equipped to deliver cutting-edge solutions. As Vishal Raval AVP Engineering, Enterprise Architect at Hexaware explained:

“Streamlining workflows isn’t just about removing obstacles—it’s about creating an environment where innovation thrives and every team member can contribute their best work.”

Finally, consultants can help clients focus on scalability and adaptability, two critical factors for long-term success. By advocating for modular architecture and reusable components, consultants enable teams to accelerate delivery while ensuring that the product remains maintainable and scalable for future needs. This forward-thinking approach not only reduces development time but also positions the organization for sustained growth and innovation.

How to Choose a Digital Product Design and Development Partner and Why Hexaware May Be the Right Fit for Your Project

Among our top tips for making your project successful, selecting the right partner is certainly the right first step. You’ll want to be sure that they have experience and expertise in both your industry and digital consulting services, that they can deliver on your timeline, that their execution plan matches your vision, and that their services fit into your budget.

Hexaware has emerged as a leader in digital product design and development services, setting itself apart through its innovation-driven approach and commitment to excellence. The company leverages advanced technologies such as AI and machine learning to create solutions that are not only cutting-edge but also tailored to the unique needs of its clients. By prioritizing user-centric solutions, Hexaware ensures that every product it develops is designed with the end-user in mind, resulting in exceptional user experiences.

What truly distinguishes Hexaware is its proven track record of success. Through numerous engagements, we have demonstrated our ability to deliver impactful results across a variety of industries. Our dedication to digital innovation strategies, coupled with a strong focus on customer satisfaction, makes Hexaware the ideal partner for businesses seeking to navigate the complexities of digital transformation in 2025.

We’re Here to Help with Your Digital Product Development. Let’s Talk.

As you navigate the complexities of digital product design and development services, Hexaware is here to guide you every step of the way. From research and discovery to post-launch support, our comprehensive services are designed to help you succeed.

Ready to take the next step? Contact us today for a consultation or to learn more about how we can bring your digital vision to life.