Top 5 UX myths that are costing your startup money
Can I do UX research with a small budget?
Do I really need it if I can do the research on my own?
In this article, we bust the 5 most common UX myths. If you’re a startup founder and you don’t think UX is for you, check the text/video below – you’ll change your mind.
Tl;dr
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MYTH 1: UX research doesn’t make sense
BUSTED: The key value of UX for startups is giving you the knowledge on how to build products people actually want to use.
The most crucial value of UX people being involved in a startup is finding and identifying the right problem to solve.
In other words, UX helps you minimize business risk by creating products people REALLY want to use.
- Without a good UX process, you risk spending money on development time for a product that is simply wrong and not usable.
- Conducting comprehensive research could require one or two UX designers working for a week, two weeks, or even a month. However, to deliver a product that people will actually use, you need a team of developers, DevOps engineers, and other specialists, typically for three to six months. UX research is much less expensive than the entire product development process, with the cost difference ranging from 10 to even 100 times.
- We must remember that money spent on a product will not end after development. So, you should ask yourseld: do you have the money to build the wrong product? Do you have the money to constantly change your product and try to fix it? Do you constantly want to be a MacGyver with a paperclip, trying to build a helicopter? Of course, it might work for him, but would US special forces want to use it?
MYTH 2: You can’t do UX research with a small budget
BUSTED: A good UX specialist will propose the most appropriate UX research method based on the project scope, time, and budget.
As a startup owner, you have a limited budget, so you might say you don’t have money for UX research. How can you deal with this?
There are different UX research methods. When conducting research, a designer proposes the right method depending on the scope, time, budget, level of confidence, and so on. Based on that, they can suggest the most appropriate UX research method.
Since startups usually have a limited budget, a designer’s responsibility is to show the client that we need to be cautious and that there might be risks. So, we would propose that, as soon as we have a prototype or something similar ready, we test it with real users to show them what we’ve prepared and gather data to confirm the validity of our execution or problem-solving approach.
You can always manipulate some process elements; it’s mainly about selecting the right tools for the context and getting the most out of them. Of course, if we utilize all available UX tools effectively, we can significantly reduce the risk of delivering something that doesn’t make sense.
Nevertheless, even with a limited budget, we can do something and base our decisions on data. Not to say that AI models can now generate fully functional mobile UI prototypes in seconds.
UX RESEARCH SERVICES
MYTH 3: A UX research participant will steal my idea
BUSTED: Talking about your idea is an essential part of the startup process. How can you find investors without it? What’s more, conducting UX research and testing doesn’t mean you have to reveal every detail right away.
Startup founders may fear that conducting UX research is not worthwhile because someone might steal their idea. Is this a legitimate concern?
During the discovery phase, we conduct generative research, aiming to understand our potential customers, their environment, mental models, and behaviors. This involves a small group, typically 5 people from one potential customer segment, whom we ask questions or observe. At this stage, we are not typically discussing the product or idea itself. The goal is to identify the most pressing problems or uncover undiscovered needs.
Once you have gathered data and are working on the solution itself, you should conduct testing with potential customers. Yes, this will involve showing them the solution. However, you can start with a small group of 5 people and iterate based on their feedback.
In the meantime, most startups need to consider finding an investor or business partner, or initiating a marketing campaign. So, there is no valid excuse for startup founders to avoid discussing their ideas. Talking about your idea is an essential part of the startup process, and it doesn’t mean you have to reveal every detail right away.
MYTH 4: “I know my users well enough”
BUSTED: Without UX research, you are more likely to misunderstand your audience than you think.
As a startup owner, you might think you already know your users well. But the question is: do you really? You’ve likely been thinking about your product for so long that you may not see the need for a fresh perspective. And that’s risky.
Do you have any data to support your claims about your users? What kind of methods did you use to collect this data? Do you have a way to predict how user behavior might change over time? If you haven’t conducted any formal user research, then your understanding of your users may be based on assumptions and biases rather than actual data.
MYTH 5: “I can do research on my own – why would I pay for it?”
BUSTED: Not everyone can do a UX job.
UX is a highly complex discipline where your talent, knowledge, and experience are extremely important. Not everyone can do a UX job. Anyone can make a diagnosis. But does that mean that everyone is a doctor? Does it mean that the diagnosis will be accurate?
If a startup owner wanted to do a designer’s job, why wouldn’t they want to do front-end, back-end, and so on? Learning UX is no easier than learning these other disciplines.
The top 5 UX myths that are costing your startup money. Summary
UX research can give you a deeper understanding of your users’ needs, pain points, and motivations. It can also help you identify potential problems with your product before they become major issues.
So, even if you think you know your users well, it’s always a good idea to conduct UX research. It can help you save time, money, and frustration in the long run.
This was an excerpt from one of Pragmatic Talks episode, Secrets of UX Design, where we talked with Kasia, Pragmatic Coders’ UX Lead. Be sure to watch or listen to it if you want learn more about UX design for business founders. (Here are the specific timestamps for the topics discussed in this article: 14:53 – 27:40 and 45:28 – 50:13).
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