Why startups should rely on UX professionals

Startups are under enormous pressure: they have to develop a marketable product in a short space of time, convince investors and win over users. UX is often considered to be of secondary importance. However, UX is not only crucial for user-friendliness – it also has a direct impact on brand building and makes the innovation behind it tangible.

Startups often work with innovative or unexplored ideas for which the target group needs are not yet clearly defined. UX helps to quickly validate and concretize these needs. Through tests and feedback loops, UX experts ensure that the product solves real problems – not just assumed ones. This helps to avoid undesirable developments before a lot of time and money is invested.

Startups that enter the market with a new idea usually do not have an existing customer base or market power. UX is the key to asserting yourself against the competition. A well thought-out UX ensures comprehensibility, a good user experience and a strong first impression – crucial for market success.

UX helps startups to sharpen their business model early on and steer it in the right direction. The early integration of UX makes it possible to iteratively develop designs and features that are not only useful for users, but also support the business model. It may turn out that a function that was initially considered a “must-have” is not so important for users or that another function is much more relevant for the business model.

Startups often begin with a prototype or MVP that offers the most basic functions. UX makes MVPs user-friendly and intuitive. A clearly understandable design minimizes hurdles, prevents frustration and strengthens confidence in the product – crucial for success.

In the early stages of a startup, the product is often the first thing that users associate with the brand. UX is not only functional, but also aesthetically and emotionally important. A well-designed user interface conveys professionalism and ensures that the brand builds the right image. UX helps to build a clear brand identity right from the start.

Startups grow quickly and growth is often accompanied by the need to quickly adapt the product or add new features. UX experts ensure that the design is built in such a way that it is scalable and can be quickly adapted to new needs.

UX can be more than just a design element for startups – it can become the central process model. Without entrenched structures, they have the opportunity to integrate UX into all areas right from the start and consistently think about users. In this way, UX becomes a vehicle for market success: it drives innovation, optimizes processes and ensures that the entire company grows in a user-centric way.

Startups are often in a flexible discovery phase – with open structures, dynamic processes and many of their own ideas. A UX professional helps to set the right focus right from the start:

• External expertise ensures that the focus is placed directly on the user and that concept ideas are specifically geared towards user needs.
• User-centered work (for example according to the user-centered design process) is integrated into the process design at an early stage and lays a solid foundation for product development.
• Testing different approaches at an early stage avoids subsequent adjustments to internal processes and makes efficient use of resources.

• Startups have a lot of their own ideas, great visions, are motivated and personally committed. This creates a good basis for working with UX experts to develop concepts that are inspiring and unique.
• Technical know-how alone is not enough – UX experts bring the necessary expertise to make the frontend user-friendly and optimize the user experience.

Startups often face the challenge of getting to market quickly, working with limited budgets and at the same time overcoming a high level of uncertainty. We support them in successfully overcoming these hurdles.

• Constructive reflection: early recognition of potential and weaknesses.
• Sparring partner at eye level: structured support throughout the entire development process
• Quick action: Critical and pragmatic use to find problems and solutions immediately.
• Time and budget pressure: Quick understanding of your challenges and solution-oriented action.
• Smooth handover: rapid integration of the results into your development process

• No lengthy development phases, but user-centered design for your core views: Rapid development of a lean, effective design for the most important screens
• Clear, intuitive design solutions that can also be further developed internally.
• CI design: Review and optimization of the color palette with regard to user-friendliness and brand identity.

• Consulting and design with a view to a minimal viable product.
• Understanding of iterative processes and pragmatic design decisions.

• Fast, targeted work within a limited budget.
• Transparent, fair pricing with a focus on maximum added value for the customer.

• Ability to communicate technical and design aspects in an understandable way.

For investors, VCs and incubators, UX is a decisive factor in assessing the actual value of a startup. With UX experts at your side, clear guidelines on UX maturity can be set, creating a strong foundation for growth. A solid UX helps to minimize risks and make the product user-centric, which increases the chances of success in the market.

It is important to identify potential gaps and unresolved problems early on before scaling takes place. A quick UX check as part of due diligence helps to identify weaknesses in the user experience that could slow down scaling – for example, blockages in the automated sales or onboarding process. A comprehensive UX analysis can secure the sustainable value of the software and ensure that the investment remains successful in the long term.

UX experts ensure that the product is user-friendly and marketable from the outset, thereby reducing the risk for investors. A sound UX strategy increases the value potential of the startup and the chances of long-term success. In addition, UX can speed up the development process and ensure that the product reaches the market faster – an important advantage when it comes to convincing investors of the profitability of the investment.

A strong UX ensures that the new product is clearly communicated via the interface and leaves a lasting impression. An early investment in UX can not only improve usability, but also save costs, increase market potential and make the startup more successful in the long term.

Let’s make your idea user-friendly and market-ready together!

As CEO of UID GmbH, Ralph Siegert and his team develop the digital product worlds of tomorrow and anchor UX in companies in a sustainable and agile way. With 25 years of experience in digitalization, often as a product owner in agile projects, he is an expert in the development of digital and innovation strategies. Before joining UID, Ralph worked for various IT service providers and international agencies for renowned clients as a link between the digital world, technology and business.

As a UX agency for innovation, design and strategy, we have successfully designed user-centered digital products in more than 5,000 projects. As part of the BAYOONET Group with 400 experts, we develop complex software solutions with optimal UX – even for highly regulated industries such as medical technology or mechanical engineering.