According to 14 international accelerators, inadequate testing is one of the most common reasons for startup failure. Inadequate testing also means not knowing how to access the market and not understanding the barriers to entry.
What are we trying to test here?
In effect, the needs of the target market, the design that will solve the need for them in the best possible manner, and how to serve the solution to them so that they pay attention and buy.
A lot of successful startups offer a great user experience. More so, design elements and user experience often get sidelined in favor of sales and business development activities.
Subpar user research yields a substandard user experience, which sets up a startup for failure. So what does a user of a product need to stay loyal to it?
What Do Users Need in the UX?
Today’s user compares every experience to every other. That means a small startup and the experience it offers is contrasted against that offered by Facebooks and Amazons of the world.
Therefore, to stand out and make a difference to your customer, you need to balance these-
Good UX is an intricate balance of these three elements. Let’s look at a few tips on getting it right the first time.
How to Get it Right The First Time
Conduct UX Research Early and All Throughout Development
Early user research uncovers ideas and facts. Does the market even need what you want to offer it? Do they already have something they use and love? Why would they switch? At what price would they be willing to purchase your product?
What are the relevant features that need to be a part of the product? What are the features that may as well be left out of it?
It’s important to test your initial assumptions for the product and the users early on to save costly revisions down the line. On top of this foundational research, once you’ve started developing the product, you can continuously test each update, ensuring a stellar user experience throughout the development process.
UX is not the Cherry on Top
The user experience design process is not an afterthought but a central objective. UX should feed into every element of your business because users pay attention to it.
Products with design at their core are generally easier to use and integrate design across the buyer journey with the product. Design-focused products also enable startups to act on user insights immediately as feedback rolls in.
UX is not the cherry on top and something that can be fixed at the end of product development, rather something that continuously needs working on throughout the product life cycle.
Bust Jargon and Layer Information
No matter how complex your product is, customers like to be able to use it easily. Can they readily find the information they need? No matter which industry or problem you address through your product, you must make information accessible.
Good UX understands the information users need, how much of it they need and how to make it easily accessible.
In particularly complex industries such as Fintech, much effort goes into making information easy to comprehend. That’s when layering information helps. Starting with the basics and then swooping into more complex parts can help the UX.
Understand Drop-offs Early On
Identify and address where users drop off from your site, service or mobile app. This information can reveal parts of the product that are challenging, needless or overwhelming for the users.
For instance, if users drop off at a particular FAQs section, notice if you’ve stuffed it with long-form content and trim it for easy consumption.
It’s also important to foresee where and in what condition your users may be while using your product. That can help add empathy to the user experience, making it significantly more effective.
Finally, recognize the data and time users realistically have while interacting with your product and shape the UX to match.
Visuals Are Also for the User
Your platform’s overall look and feel should complement the user experience and not take away from it in favor of branding. Too much color and personality can be off-putting for your users.
So look for places where you can add personality a tad bit more and tone it down in places where you are dealing with, for instance, complicated personal information.
All the insight you gain from UX research- customer desires, pains, mindsets- should now feed your design elements. Don’t lose important information in the design.
Maintain the Experience Post-Launch
Once your product is live and in the hands of customers, it’s important to keep collecting feedback to maintain a product that’s as close to what your customers need as possible. With active maintenance, you can sustain a product that is continuously relevant to the users.
Conclusion
Startups often fail to get UX right the first time because they value everything else over it. However, UX is an integral part of the development process and often dictates the success of a product.
Use the above mentioned tips to create an exceptional UX for your customers.
And if you’re looking for UX design services, trust KiwiTech to design an exceptional user experience for you, incorporating modern design principles and yielding a product that sticks.