A Guide To Outsourcing Front-end Development

Front-end development is one of the most crucial parts of any software development project as it is a vital element in how a company’s audience and customer base interact with the user interface and take to it.

The front-end of an app or website needs to be engaging, intuitive and enthralling, keeping the users enchanted and wanting for more. Many startups and enterprises, in a bid to achieve just this, end up going above and beyond by upscaling and hiring full-time, on-site front-end developers to their teams.

Even though this might sound like a good option, it doesn’t give you the most bang for your back in the short as well as long run.

Another alternative, which is more time-efficient, cost-effective and foolproof, is outsourcing.

Outsourcing has a lot to offer to companies but they always tend to have some reservations when it comes to actually put this development model to use. Here are a few questions companies are quelled with:

I have an in-house team working on my project’s back-end development. How will outsourcing match up to it when building my project’s front end?

If you’ve already started with your project’s back-end development, you will have to bring the outsourced front-end development team up to speed with whatever’s been done so far.

The documentation work needs to be updated along with at what stage the back-end development has reached so that both the in-house back-end team and outsourced front-end team can work in synergy without clashes or misunderstandings.

What if I want to rebuild my current front end?

Many a time it happens that the current front end in use on apps and websites is either outdated or isn’t gaining traction and holding user attention for a long time. In such cases, it’s better to outsource and rebuild your front-end development rather than ask your in-house team to rework it as they previously worked on the original interface.

Once all this is set, and you have solved the dilemmas of back-end development and rebuilding your front-end development, you can start thinking of what type of outsourcing model you’d like to choose.

Types of Front-end development Outsourcing

Front-end development outsourcing is roughly divided into two types:

• Full-cycle
• Coding

Full-cycle: Full-cycle outsourcing involves the client, that is you, having several responsibilities such as documentation, backend development, database handling and integrations. The outsourcing provider will be responsible for all the front-end workload such as creating wireframes, mockups, app logic and most importantly coding.

Coding: As the name suggests, this model demands you to develop ideas for the user interface along with a basic blueprint of how your app should seem to the users. You are in charge of the documentation, back-end development, database handling, and integrations as well as creating wireframes, mockups and app logic. The service provider will only have to work on the code once they receive all information about the application’s workflow and appearance from you.

Engagement Models for Outsourcing Front-end Development

Engagement models refer to the type of collaboration or partnership you’ll have with the vendor along with the working model on which your outsourced front-end development team will be built.

There are 3 types of engagement models:

• Dedicated Teams
• Staff Augmentation
• Project-based Outsourcing

Dedicated Teams: Dedicated teams are multidisciplinary remote teams that resemble your in-house team but don’t work on-site. Dedicated teams are built of all the possible developers, architects, engineers and analysts you’ll need to bring your projects to fruition. They work with you for the long term, reporting every daily activity to you and keeping you in the loop.

Staff Augmentation: Staff Augmentation is a great model to use when you require certain front-end developers who are wizards at specific tech languages and frameworks. Staff augmentation allows you to pick and choose which software developers you need rather than hiring an entire army and thus saves you a lot of time and trouble.

Project-based Outsourcing: Project-based outsourcing is for those who want to augment or rather hire an entire team for only a certain project and then terminate the contract. This model leverages more freedom to the client as they get to have a team that works for them for certain projects and can then be rehired if ever the need be.

Conclusion:

Whatever the engagement model, type of outsourcing or country from which you’re outsourcing your front-end developers, make sure to set the rules straight and build some groundwork before signing the paperwork. Outsourcing for startups has the biggest plus so there’s no reason why bootstrapped enterprises should miss on it.