“Hey, could you give us an idea of how long you think the design work might take?»

This innocent question can later transform into a horror movie for the designer who failed to estimate the time needed to complete the work.

This is a question that every designer faces.

This a question that requires us to be optimistic enough not to afraid a client and pragmatic enough not to spend the last nights before the deadline trying to finish the unfinished.

Let’s define the aspects you might take into consideration before announcing your roadmap to the client and see why it could be challenging.

Understand the Project Scope

Your first goal is to gather the maximum information about the project and the stakeholders' vision of the future product. It can be tricky as projects often start with vague requirements that will be refined during the user research phase.

Besides that, projects often evolve or expand beyond their initial scope, and additional features or changes can extend the timeline unexpectedly.

Good news — to prevent such cases, there is a document created by a Product Owner during the project’s initial phases, called Product Requirements Document (PRD) or Functional Specification Document.

If the Product Owner does their job well, you will have a clear list of requirements that will serve as a reference point for all stakeholders — including designers, developers, and clients.

This will allow you to estimate the time and resources needed for the project more accurately.

Break down the project into key phases.

In my experience as a UX/UI designer, not every project required every step of the classical design thinking process upon my arrival.