I absolutely love working with startups. I know I'm not supposed to have favorites, but startups are indeed, my favorite type of client. There's something about the chaos, passion, and drive that really makes being in the fire exciting.

We all know that startups move fast, and sometimes a bit too fast. In the race to launch MVPs, get investor attention, and hit traction milestones, user experience often gets treated like a “nice-to-have” instead of the core differentiator it is. But here’s the thing: bad UX costs you users, trust, and growth.

But don't worry, you're not totally doomed if you don't have the cash for a design team right now. In fact, you don’t even need a design team or fancy processes to get UX right. Just a solid understanding of the fundamentals and a commitment to apply them early.

1. Don't assume you know your users, actually get to know them

It’s easy to fall in love with your idea, but real success comes from solving applicable, real-world problems. Start by understanding your users’ actual goals, pain points, and behaviors. Interview them. Watch them use your product. Be curious. Engage with them as much as possible. Founders tend to become pretty hands-off with their user base, leaving it to their teams to interact with. I see this issue often and it typically leads to tension down the road when the founder is asking for design changes that don't align with the actual user base.

Tip: “User-centered” doesn’t mean “user agrees with your roadmap.” It means your product revolves around the user, not the other way around.

2. Test early. Iterate often.

Don’t wait until you’ve “finished” the design to test it. Show rough flows. Share scrappy prototypes.
Getting user feedback early helps you fail faster, and smarter.

Startup truth: It’s cheaper to test a sketch than to rebuild a product.

3. Onboarding is NOT an afterthought

I cannot stress enough how important onboarding is. Soooooooooooo many, SOOO many startups neglect this crucial piece of UX. Think of your onboarding as your physical storefront. It is the first step a user has in interacting with your product. If a store looks like there was no effort put into, is messy, confusing, and the user can't see the value in looking around, then they'll walk out. The same goes for your onboarding process. Avoid lengthy forms, break them down into smaller bits to reduce cognitive load. Make it pretty. Add some cute microinteractions. While testing with rough sketches and shipping fast is a good idea, I'd advise spending more time crafting a nice looking onboarding process. It'll be worth it.

Think of onboarding like a first date: Make it easy, interesting, and don’t overshare.

4. UX should support business goals, not compete with them

Great UX isn't just about delight - it’s about outcomes. Good design guides users toward the behaviors that matter: signups, engagement, retention, & referrals. Keep your business goals front and center when designing and don't lose sight of them. Don't overthink the process. What do you want your users to do? Buy a subscription? Then you design solely around that business goal. All of your design should reflect that goal, not distract from it.

Pro Tip: Tie your UX decisions to KPIs. The best design is the one that moves the needle.