Helping startups at every stage!
Pre Seed and Seed Stage
Early-stage founders in pre-seed are often solo or small teams focused on proving their idea. At this stage, validating the problem-solution fit is the top priority. However, many pre-seed startups falter by skipping user research – in fact,
- 42% of pre-seed startups fail by misjudging market demand, underscoring the need for thorough market and user research upfront
Questions I can help answer:
“How do I verify that people really need the product I’m imagining?”
“What should my MVP include (and exclude) to effectively test my idea with users?”
“How can I conduct user research or usability tests on a shoestring budget before I have a product?”
“Our prototype is ready – what user feedback should we gather to decide if we’re on the right track?”
Seed Stage
In the seed stage, the startup typically has an MVP or prototype launched and aims to achieve product–market fit. The team starts growing (adding a few engineers or a designer), and the startup may have initial users or pilots. Product and UX needs now center on refining the product based on real user or customer feedback and demonstrating traction
Questions I can help answer:
“Users signed up, but many don’t stick around – how can we improve our onboarding UX to boost retention?”
“We have some enthusiastic early customers; what features or improvements will help us reach product-market fit?”
“What metrics should we track at this stage, and how do we use them to inform product decisions?”
“Should we hire a full-time designer or PM now, or continue with founders wearing those hats? What’s the ROI of investing in UX at this point?”
Serie A
Achieving Series A funding is a major milestone – it signifies a level of product-market fit and provides capital to scale the product and user base. Startups at Series A typically expand their team (often hiring their first dedicated UX designer or product manager if they haven’t already) (prettygreat.studio). The focus shifts from “make this work” to “make this work at scale and delight users.”
Questions I can help answer:
“As we add many new features, how do we maintain a consistent user experience? Do we need a design system or style guide now?”
“Our user base is growing and diversifying – how can we better understand user behavior and needs at scale? Should we hire a UX researcher or use a consultant to gather insights?”
“We have usability issues cropping up (support tickets, user complaints) – what’s the best way to identify and prioritize UX fixes versus building new features?”
“How do we measure the ROI of UX improvements? For example, if we invest in a UI redesign, what impact might it have on activation, retention, or revenue?”
Later Stages
By Series B or C, startups are becoming scale-ups – larger user base, expanded teams, and possibly international expansion. The product is more mature, but also more complex.
Questions I can help answer:
“We’re expanding to international markets – how do we adapt our UX for different cultures and user expectations? Do we need to revamp parts of the UI or user flow for, say, the US vs Europe vs Asia?”
“Our product has a lot of features now; how can we simplify the user experience to avoid overwhelming users? What’s the right balance between offering power users advanced functionality and keeping things easy for new users?”
“How can we ensure our organization continues to be user-centric at scale? Do we need training in design thinking for our teams, or better integration between product, UX, and engineering departments?”
“Is there value in bringing an outside perspective occasionally? For example, should we get an external UX audit or a fractional CPO to challenge our strategy and identify blind spots as we mature?”
