Quick answer
A UX design agency should deliver evidence and decisions, not just pretty screens: research findings about your users, a clear site or app structure, wireframes, a tested prototype, final designs with a reusable component library, accessibility checks and a handover your developers can build from. Agree the list of deliverables in writing before work starts.
Imagine a small software firm in Cambridge that pays for “UX design” and receives forty beautiful screens. Six months later, customers still cannot find the export button, because nobody ever watched a customer use the product. That is the gap this checklist closes. User experience design is the work of making a website or app easy and pleasant to use, and it should be grounded in how real people behave. Use the list below when you compare agency proposals, and again when the work is handed over.
The deliverables checklist
| Deliverable | What it is | Ask for |
|---|---|---|
| Research plan and findings | Interviews, surveys or analytics review, summarised | A written summary with quotes and key problems |
| User journeys | The main tasks people come to do, step by step | A diagram for each key task |
| Site map or app structure | How pages or screens are organised and named | A diagram and agreed navigation labels |
| Wireframes | Simple layouts showing structure and priority | Annotated, for every key page or screen |
| Prototype | A clickable version for testing | A link you can use on a phone |
| Usability testing | Real people trying the prototype | Recordings or notes, and what changed as a result |
| Visual designs | Final look of each page or screen | All states: empty, error, loading, success |
| Component library | Reusable buttons, forms, cards and styles | Editable source files you own |
| Accessibility review | Checks against recognised guidelines | A short report of issues and fixes |
| Developer handover | Specs, assets and notes for the build | A walkthrough session and written notes |
Research: the part most often skipped
- Talk to real users. Even five short interviews with customers reveal problems nobody in the business can see.
- Review what you already know. Analytics, support emails, sales call notes and reviews are free research.
- Write it down. Findings should be a document you keep, not a slide shown once.
- The UK government’s service manual on user research is a clear, free guide to what good research looks like.
Structure before style
- A site map or screen map showing every page and how they connect.
- Navigation labels in customers’ words, tested where possible.
- Wireframes before colour. Arguing about the shade of blue before the page structure is agreed wastes money.
- Annotations explaining why each element is where it is.
Testing: proof it works
- A clickable prototype tested with a handful of real users before any code is written.
- Small numbers are fine. Nielsen Norman Group’s well-known article on testing with five users explains why a few sessions find most of the problems.
- A record of what changed because of testing. If nothing changed, either the testing was shallow or the findings were ignored.
Final designs you can actually use
- Every state designed: what a page looks like when it is empty, loading, showing an error and showing success.
- Mobile and desktop versions of each key page, not just desktop.
- A component library so future pages match without hiring the agency again.
- Source files in your name, in a format your team or a future designer can open.
Accessibility, built in
- Colour contrast checked for text and buttons.
- Forms with visible labels and helpful error messages.
- Layouts that work with a keyboard and a screen reader.
- A short report against recognised guidelines; the UK government’s guide to understanding WCAG explains the standard most teams use. Our own guide to website accessibility covers what it means for small businesses.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Which of these deliverables are included in the price, and which are extras?
- How many users will you speak to or test with, and how will you recruit them?
- What happens if testing shows the design does not work: is a revision round included?
- In what format will we receive the files, and can our developers open them without your software licence?
- Who from your team will we work with day to day, and who signs off the work?
- Can we see a past project’s handover pack, with the client’s permission?
An agency that answers clearly and in writing is usually one that has delivered this kind of work before.
Red flags in a proposal
- “Discovery” with no named outputs.
- No testing with real users, or testing only with your own staff.
- Visual designs only, with no structure or prototype stage.
- Source files kept by the agency.
- No handover to developers, or an assumption that the agency will also build it at a price not yet stated.
If you are weighing up who to hire, our comparison of a freelancer versus an agency and our guide to spotting a web designer overcharging help you compare proposals fairly.
Do you need a UX agency at all?
For a complex app, a large e-commerce site or a service with many user types, a dedicated UX process is money well spent. For a small business website of a few pages, a good designer working from a clear brief can cover the essentials: structure, clear navigation, readable pages and a tested contact path. Our free website brief template and our guide to briefing a designer help you get there.
Our custom WordPress websites start at £499, with custom design, a mobile-first build and forms connected to your inbox, and larger projects are quoted in writing before work starts. If your current site needs rethinking rather than a fresh coat of paint, see our guide to a website redesign. Every Luxbranding price is on our pricing page.
Get the UK Website Project Brief Template (free)
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Frequently asked questions
What does a UX design agency do? +
It works out how people use your website or app and designs it to make their tasks easy. Good UX work starts with research into real users, then defines the structure and journeys, tests a prototype with real people, and produces final designs, reusable components and a handover your developers can build from.
What deliverables should a UX project include? +
Research findings, user journeys for the key tasks, a site or screen map, annotated wireframes, a clickable prototype, usability test results and what changed because of them, final designs for every state on mobile and desktop, a component library, an accessibility review and a developer handover. Agree the list in writing before work starts.
How many users should UX testing include? +
Fewer than most people expect. Small rounds of testing with around five people from your target audience usually uncover most of the major problems, especially when you test, fix and test again. Testing only with your own staff is not enough, because they already know how the business and its jargon work.
Does a small business website need a UX agency? +
Usually not for a site of a few pages. A good designer working from a clear brief can cover structure, navigation, readable pages and a tested contact path. A dedicated UX process is worth it for complex apps, large shops or services with many types of user, where small usability problems cost real money.
