Design Quality Assurance: Understand the Basics

Finding graphic design is one thing. But finding high-quality design adds a whole new challenge to the mix. Learn why design quality assurance is important and how it work

What is quality assurance?

Quality assurance (QA) means cross-checking every single aspect of the design process to make sure it is up to certain quality standards.

Therefore, it’s a way to guarantee that everything has been done to ensure high-quality design. It will provide confidence in quality internally to management, for example, and externally to clients. 

It’s mostly used in product design to ensure that the UI and UX design provide a positive user experience. However, the logic behind the process of reviewing designs can be applied to virtually any design project: from social media posts to font design.

There are many different ways to do this, and most designers and agencies have their own processes. A few things are essential. Good quality assurance includes the following.

• Establishing standards: Defining the criteria and standards that products or services must meet. These standards can include functional requirements, performance metrics, reliability, usability, and more.
• Process improvement: Continuously improving processes to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, and quality. This involves identifying areas for improvement, implementing changes, QA testing, and monitoring the results.
• Training and education: Providing training and education to employees to ensure they understand quality standards, procedures, and their roles in maintaining quality.
• Documentation: Maintaining comprehensive documentation of processes, procedures, and quality standards to ensure consistency and provide a reference for future improvements or audits.
• Risk management: Identifying potential risks to quality and implementing measures to mitigate or prevent them. This involves assessing risks associated with processes, technologies, suppliers, and other factors that could impact quality.
• Customer satisfaction: Focusing on meeting or exceeding customer expectations by delivering products or services that consistently meet quality standards. Customer feedback and satisfaction metrics are often used to measure the effectiveness of quality assurance efforts.

Ways to assure quality 

Now that you know the answer to the question: “What is quality assurance in design?” let’s dive into how you can actually assure quality. 

A professional design team or agency will have a design QA process. Still, you can do a few things as a client to make sure everything runs smoothly. 

Design brief

A good design brief plays a vital role in ensuring that you end up with the exact design you envisioned. It should answer all questions about the design your designer may want to know. Some examples are:

• Who is the target audience?
• What should the design accomplish?
• What message do you want the design to convey?
• What are the deadlines?

Find the right designer

There are many different types of designers in the wonderful world of design. After you have determined the scope of your project, it’s crucial to pick a designer that fits those needs.

Besides necessary design skills and a polished portfolio, you should also interview potential candidates to ensure they’re a good company fit and can work well with other team members.

Communicate

Communication is the key to success. That’s not just a nice-looking quote; it’s true for a graphic design project, too.

Before you start a collaboration, it’s a good idea to let your designer know your preferences and expectations. How often would you like to connect, and through which platform?

Feedback

Stay involved throughout the project, and give feedback on each version. Don’t be shy. A good designer can take it, as long as it is constructive feedback.

What is the difference between design quality assurance and quality control?

Quality control vs. quality assurance:what’s the difference between the two? 

Quality assurance relates to how a process is performed. Quality control comes afterward. You can see quality control more as the inspection of quality management. 

Design quality assurance focuses on the process of designing. Quality control, on the other hand,  focuses on the overall quality of the design that is to be handed over.

Although the quality control process is important for polishing each final product, quality assurance helps to make the design process effective in the long run.

How to find high-quality graphic design

You can know all about quality assurance and graphic design. But if you don’t know where to find it, you’re back to square one.

Graphic design is available through many platforms, offering free templates. But when using free graphic design you risk mundane, overused design.

The best way to find high-quality and unique design is by collaborating with a professional graphic designer. There are different options to consider.

Hiring a graphic designer

You can hire a graphic designer to add to your team or hire a freelancer. Both of these options can ensure you high-quality design. With the first option, you can even have a say in the quality assurance process.

Bear in mind, though, that hiring someone is an expensive option. Increasing your headcount comes with responsibilities, and finding a suitable freelancer can take weeks.

Hiring an agency

The benefit of hiring an agency is that it comes with professionalism and experience. Additionally, they have the tools and a team of designers with different specializations.

Don’t forget to apply your newly acquired knowledge here. Before you hire an agency, it’s a good idea to ask them if they have a quality assurance specialist.

Hiring an agency does come with high costs. What’s more, an agency is often swamped in design requests, so delays are more the norm than the exception.

The third option combines the pros of both options and eliminates the cons. Unlimited design companies allow you to get high-quality graphic design for a flat monthly rate. 

At ManyPixels, we also have an extensive graphic design quality assurance process. So, our designers are able to deliver the best results in the shortest time. Our subscription plans also include unlimited revisions, so designs are always made 100% to your liking.

In summary

The role of design QA is to ensure a smooth design process that produces high-quality products.

When you pick a designer to collaborate with, it’s a good idea to check if there is design quality assurance in place. You can ask them to share their design quality control checklist with you, or tell you more about their revision process. Additionally, it’s vital to have a clear design brief and find the right designer.

Bear in mind that graphic design quality assurance is especially important when working with freelancers. Without a quality check process, you’ll likely need more revisions. And since many freelancers charge extra for additional revisions, this can also increase costs.

Unlimited design services like ManyPixels provide professional services with graphic design quality assurance. Best of all, one flat monthly rate covers all your projects and revisions!

Find out more through a 1-on-1 demo, where you’ll learn about how ManyPixels works and whether we can make a good design partner for your business!

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