How to Choose a UI/UX Design Agency in Indonesia
How to choose a UI/UX design agency in Indonesia: questions to ask, red flags, what a good proposal contains, a small first project and the files you should own.
In this article
Choosing a UI/UX design agency in Indonesia usually starts with portfolios, and most portfolios look good. The harder question is whether the team will find out what your users need, design around it, and prove the design works before you spend money building it. This guide covers what to ask, which warning signs to watch for, what a good proposal looks like, and how to test an agency with a small first project.
If you already have a brief, see our UI/UX design service.
Start with Your Own Brief
Before you contact anyone, write down three things:
- The product and its users. A trading app for beginners needs different work than a dashboard for a finance team.
- The problem. Low sign-ups, slow tasks, complaints, an outdated interface, or a new product that has not launched yet.
- What happens after design. Will your in-house developers build it, or do you need the agency to build it too?
A clear brief makes proposals comparable. Without one, every agency answers a different question.
Questions to Ask a UI/UX Agency
Use this list in the first call. The answers tell you more than the deck.
| Ask | What a good answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| How do you learn about our users? | Interviews, usability testing or analytics review, planned before design starts |
| Who will work on our project? | Named roles, with the people you meet being the people who do the work |
| Do you run research in-house? | Their own researchers recruit, moderate and analyse sessions |
| How do you test the design? | A clickable prototype tested with real users, then revised |
| Can we see a live product? | Apps you can download, websites you can open, not only mockups |
| What did the work change? | Numbers from the product, such as task time, sign-ups or ratings |
| Who builds it? | Their own developers, or a clear handover to yours |
| What do we own at the end? | All source files, the design system and documentation |
Red Flags
- Only pretty screens. A portfolio full of visuals with no word about users, problems or results.
- No research in the plan. The proposal goes straight from kickoff to high-fidelity UI.
- "We'll test after launch." Fixing a live app costs more than fixing a prototype.
- A different team after signing. Senior people pitch, then the work goes to people you never met.
- Vague deliverables. "UI design for the app" with no list of flows, screens or files.
- Files stay with the agency. You should never need permission to change your own product.
- Design and build never talk. Designers hand over a file and leave; developers guess the rest.
What a Good Proposal Contains
A proposal from a serious UI design agency reads like a plan, not a price list. Look for:
- Goals in your words, tied to the problem in your brief.
- Scope by flow, such as registration, search or checkout, not just "the whole app".
- Research steps: who will be interviewed or tested, how they are recruited and how many.
- Design steps: user flows, wireframes, UI, prototype, testing and revisions.
- Deliverables: a named list of files you receive.
- Timeline with checkpoints, so you review work in stages instead of once at the end.
- The team, by role.
- Handover to development, whether that is their team or yours.
If two proposals have similar prices but only one explains how users are involved, that difference matters more than the price.
Run a Small First Project
The safest way to choose an agency is to work with it on something small. Pick one key flow that matters to the business, such as registration, finding a product or making a first purchase.
A first project like this usually includes:
- A short review of the current flow and any data you have.
- A few interviews with real users.
- A redesigned flow as a clickable prototype.
- A round of usability testing with real users on that prototype.
- A revised design and a list of what to fix next.
You learn how the team thinks, how it communicates and whether its findings hold up, before committing to a full product.
The Files You Should Own
At the end of a UI/UX project, make sure you receive:
- Figma files with every screen and state: empty, loading, error and success.
- A design system: colours, type, spacing and reusable components, so new screens stay consistent.
- The clickable prototype used in testing.
- Research findings: what users did, where they got stuck and what changed because of it.
- Documentation of flows, rules and edge cases that developers need.
Put ownership of these files in the contract. A product your team cannot change without the agency is a product you do not fully own.
How rekursiv Works
rekursiv is a UI/UX design agency in South Jakarta, at The Manhattan Square on Jl. TB Simatupang, working since 2021. Our UX research team is in-house, and design and development sit in one team, so what we test is what gets built. Our UI/UX design service covers research, design, prototyping and testing for apps, websites and dashboards.
IFGSee the project →
One by IFG. An all-in-one finance app for insurance, mutual funds, bonds and stocks. We ran in-depth interviews and usability testing with 15 users before launch. The app reached 75K users in 8 months and a 4.9 app rating.
Bahana Sekuritas. The DXTrade trading app had gone years without a major update. After user research and a redesign, registration became 62% faster and finding a product 92% faster.
Mirae Asset Sekuritas. Before launching M-Stock, we ran usability testing with 30 traders, investors and beginners and gave a UI improvement strategy. The app holds a 4.7 rating, and 89% of the strategy was implemented.
Kalbe Consumer Health. One website for 9 countries, designed for people with low digital literacy, with average search time down 66%.
How to Start
Write a one-page brief, shortlist two or three agencies, and ask each the questions above. Then choose one key flow and run it as a first project with real users. The way an agency handles that small piece of work is the best preview of the full project.
Looking for a UI/UX design agency in Jakarta? See our UI/UX design service or contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a UI/UX design agency do?
It researches how people use a product, designs the user flows and screens of an app, website or dashboard, turns them into a clickable prototype and tests that prototype with real users. Many agencies also hand over a design system so developers can build the screens consistently.
How do I choose a UI/UX design agency in Indonesia?
Look at live products in its portfolio, ask how it involves users before and after design, ask who does the work and who builds it, and read the proposal for clear scope and deliverables. A small first project on one key flow is the safest way to see how the team works.
Should the agency do user research or just design?
Design without research is a guess. Ask whether the agency runs interviews and usability testing itself, how many participants it usually tests with, and how findings change the design.
What files should I receive at the end of a UI/UX project?
The Figma files with every screen and state, the design system or component library, the clickable prototype, research findings and documentation that explains flows, rules and edge cases for your developers.
What does rekursiv offer?
rekursiv is a UI/UX design agency in South Jakarta with an in-house UX research team. It researches, designs and tests apps, websites and dashboards, and its development team can build what is designed.
Sources
Project figures from rekursiv case studies
- One by IFG, an all-in-one finance app IFG
- Revitalizing a stock trading app Bahana Sekuritas
- Pre-launch UX research for a trading app Mirae Asset Sekuritas
