Setting up a startup itself is a herculean task, so with the limited resources and budget, you might want to prioritize things. Design-led startups command a great deal of effort from the team but eventually pays off well. Firms have realized the importance of UX design, that isn’t an elegant thing that comes at a great expense, but the need of the hour. Believe me, having a UX Designer’s contribution to the team always comes in handy. You can either opt-in for external agencies’ help or have one for yourself. Let me further explain the whys of having a designer and how it’s going to impact your business in the long run (and short).
If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.”
-Dr. Ralf Speth, Chief Executive Officer, Jaguar Land Rover
Good design surely includes some costs, in fact, it is expensive, but have you ever looked at the costs that a bad design could possibly bring? Lesser churn rates, increased bounce rates, end-users not finding ease with bad usability.
UX Design is the heart of a successful business, it boosts conversions, retains customers, and increases the ROI. Starting from the proper research to finding solutions on the basis of end users’ pain points is something that is only possible with UX design. A Founder of a startup who doesn’t understand the importance of design might have a long way to succeed.
If you are a designer or a startup founder, read on to find out why. Design Led Startups puts design and design thinking upfront.
1. Boosts User Interactions
UX design is all about Users’ points of view. How would the users be comfortable, how would they react to this change, would they like this, would they love this, etc. So, when you design something by keeping the end-users in mind, they obviously will love the output. Simply designing the website as the designer likes it, is so yesterday’s thing to do. If you want to thrive in your digital business, then know what your customers want, and design your website accordingly. So that you get maximum interactions. UX designer helps you in that.
2. Cut down costs
Investing in a good UX is the best investment decision you could ever make for your business. A proper investment in design will cut unnecessary maintenance costs. Good usability will ease the journey of the users in finding CTA’s and results in conversions. One example of a reduction in costs is prototyping. It’s part of UX research to design a dummy version of the final product. It’s a costly affair to design the final product and then make changes according to the reviews of the customers. So, simply design the prototype, get feedback, make changes until the prototype is perfect so you can get a heads-up to design the final product.
3. Brand awareness
Though UX designing and branding are two different disciplines, you need one of them for escalating the other. In fact, UX designing and branding actually go hand in hand. Confused? Let me break it down for you. UX design obviously includes UX research. When you want to design an upgraded version of your website, or rebrand your firm’s image, just dig up the market and know what kind of brand your customers are expecting or saying they need. This tells you how your website should look, talk, act, interact, what not everything. Let’s say UX designing is a kind of virtual PR for your website.
4. Increase the ROI
Startups are often hamstrung by time and resources, requiring them to frequently deliver products with less than optimal design. Design-led startups have a competitive advantage and are more successful at engaging users and converting them into paying customers. They are able to target the heart of their business by understanding why people want or need their product in the first place. Design is a major factor in showing up in google’s results. With UI/UX designing you get to create a product that meets the users’ needs. This results in more people lining up for the product and recording more website visitors.
5. Design as a catalyst
As a founder of a startup, you want your business to be perceived with a tone of voice in the market. This could be either adventurous, funny, or caring. If your UI is not clear with dysfunctional elements in it or your UX is not targeting end-users properly, then there is no clear message sent out. Design attracts visitors and enhances the retaining rates. Unless the content on your website is readable and the website is high on usability, there is no one visiting your website. Setting up the brand perception in the market and living up to the mark are like two sides of the same coin “Branding.”
Finally, UX Design is the ultimate weapon to increase adoption rates and user satisfaction. And having a UX Designer or partnering with an agency will only help users and the business. Earlier it was just the content that added up to the SEO results, nowadays design adds up the SERP results. Thus it is an important factor for your business to connect with your users through a web search. And being smart about hiring a designer or agency would be the best decision you could make during the early stages of your startup.
