Startups have a lot of things to think about. Your startup might be just you and a few friends working from your bedrooms, possibly a small co-working space membership (pre-covid of course) and operating on razor thin margins - if any margin at all. Between searching for investors, getting your pitches ready, doing market research, there likely feels like there isn't time to think about brushing your teeth, nevermind UX research and design. My goal is to convince you that you need to think about and tackle UX ASAP.
As noted in a previous blog, UX is at its most basic understanding customer service. If you don't have a good User eXperience, you won't keep the users you have or gain any new ones. If you have any online presence, (you definitely should, it's 2021 and we're in a pandemic,) whether that be an app, a website, or whatever else, you need to be thinking and implementing UX strategy the moment you plan to interact with customers and investors.
Some might read this an immediately think, "Startups can't afford a UX Designer!" but I'd argue that startups can't afford NOT to work with a UX Designer. Well thought out UX is the competitive advantage new startups need and can't afford to not have. If you're at the point of spending any money on advertising, you need to also invest in UX. Now, I'm not arguing that you need to employ a full time UX-er, but you do need to invest some time in a consultant at the very least. Feedback from someone well versed in trends can at the very least provide you with feedback to improve problem areas and pinch points. If you're looking to work with someone who understands startups, contact us! We can work with you and put you ahead of your competitors with good UX.