Invisible design — the startup way
Many designers feel drawn to innovation and to startups. For designers, working with a startup can be a great opportunity to shape something new from the very beginning. What they might not know is that at an early stage, startups don’t need much of the work designers are familiar with. At least not if they approach innovation the right way.
In early startups, most design work is invisible.
We’ve worked with numerous startups and innovation teams, and we’ve seen many people waste time on the wrong things at the wrong time. For example, product design should begin later than one might expect, after the startup has studied their customers and gained a deep understanding of their problems. Many startups also get distracted by branding efforts far too early. Things like a clever company name, logo and website are irrelevant until you have found real customers with an important problem to solve.
When advising startups, we teach three essential approaches that help them through the early stages of their product design. First, they need to verify their idea, then deliver solutions manually before scaling carefully.
1. Verify the need for your idea
No matter how beautifully a product is designed, it’s pointless if nobody uses it. So how can you know if your idea is any good? The Mom Test is an excellent way to quickly verify the need for a new product or service without having to build anything. All you need to do is talk to potential customers in a disciplined manner.
There is a great video introduction to The Mom Test, but we recommend that you read the book as well. It teaches you two essential skills:
- Learn how people solve their problem today and what they struggle with. Listen to how they speak about the problem you will solve, but don’t mention your idea!
- Confirm that some people you meet are potential customers. Show them a simple visualisation of your idea and then ask for commitments such as time, reputation or money.
The Mom Test needs to practiced so get out of the building and approach your conversations in the right order! There are no shortcuts here. Try to stay detached from your envisioned solution so you can let go and move on to new ideas if necessary.
2. Start small with manual work
Your goal as a startup designer is to create something people want. To start figuring out how excited people are about your product idea, you can deliver a limited solution to a small set of customers.
Any new product needs to provide a much better experience than the currently available solutions to the same problem. This means startups need to look for a niche where they can impress customers. For example, your solution can either be faster, cheaper, more convenient or more pleasant to use. To figure out if and how your first customers experience this improvement, you need to get to know them extremely well.
Start by serving a few people that you interviewed during the Mom Test phase, who are actively looking for a solution to their problem. Help them out through manual work or try modifying existing products. This approach is called the Concierge method and it allows you to start selling a solution to a problem before you build any product.
The Concierge method is the fastest way to learn about your customers real needs and if they will pay to have their problem solved. Since it involves an “invisible product”, it often feels strange to founders and designers. Still, it’s an essential litmus test you should pass before spending time designing and developing a product. The Concierge method requires a lot of manual work, so you will only be able deal with very few customers. Be patient and resist the temptation to scale.
3. Scale carefully
To get close to your first customers, embrace an attitude of doing things that don’t scale. Usually, you can provide temporary solutions that make your first users very happy through manual work and great customer service. From there, you scale up carefully, trying to serve more customers without losing user satisfaction. An inspiring reference to study is how AirBnB got started. Like Brian Chesky, don’t be afraid to exaggerate customer satisfaction!
So how do you move from your first handcrafted, manual services to a product that scales? Ideally, it’s a gradual process where you replace parts of your manual work with automated components. In the beginning 100% of the value you create is through service. Over time, as you automate and optimise your solution, it will grow into a scalable product. The startup Aardvark is an excellent example of a team that relied on this approach.
Finally, careful scaling also applies to how you interact with your customers. In the beginning you should recruit all customers manually. This means that you can communicate with them like you do with your friends: in person, over the phone or through chat apps. Only when you have more customers than you can personally can stay in touch with, you should start working on your web page and social media accounts.
No time to show off
The invisible design work that startups need is far too important to be left only to designers. In fact, the entire founding teams of early startups should get to know and help customers manually. It’s hard work but it’s the best way to learn quickly if you are on the right track.
To sum up, working in an early stage startup is not always the best way for you to shine as a designer. The good news is that if your invisible work is successful, you will eventually get to design something that people actually use and love.
