(As a designer) You can launch WITHOUT hiring a UI designer (May get some hate for this)
As a designer with 15+ years experience working at nationwide banks to startups, I've learned a thing or two about what really matters when it comes to design.
Here's a quick list:
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Your product should focus on making ONE thing function super well.
(I'm a product person, so this is hard for me too.) -
How your product works is more important than how it looks
(Buuut it's easier than ever to make it look good.) -
It will take time to understand your ideal client. It takes most companies some time to see the clear trends
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There are tons of amazing pre-designed templates and design systems. Use them! They are dirt cheap. Figma Design Systems, Figma UI Templates, Webflow templates, etc.
https://www.figma.com/community/design_systems
https://www.figma.com/community/ui_kits
https://webflow.com/templates -
Figure out your key metric ASAP.
What is the main thing that will keep people coming back to your product? Is it when they upload something, download something else, perform a certain task, invite someone else, share it, etc.
Whatever it is, double down on it!
2022 is the year of helping other founders design better brands and products.
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100% agree with @Mikron. It really depends on the market you are going after. For B2B SaaS products, I would agree with you. For an e-commerce company selling high end fashion products, a less than cutting edge UI might be the difference between success and failure.
Good points, however, a product is like Tinder - if you don't invest in its looks, no one is going to bother to discover its charming personality, doesn't really matter how hard you invested in it. No one would care.
So as a developer, I would actually say that your profession is much more important in terms of priority, as for instance, in order for someone to download your app, it will have to stand out in the search results (Icon graphics) then persuade the user to download (screenshot + video graphics) and then persuade them to use and pay it (in-app graphics)
Lots of important graphics.
As far as a per-made affordable stock graphics resource I recommend Envato Elements.
There’s also some good resources to learn UI Design too. It’s easier than ever to design yourself with some time and practice. Your other tips are good too!