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Startups have a misconception that good designs are about to look beautiful. Founders, seeking to stand in competitive markets, often decide on the visual aspects of their products or brands – sometimes harm the business themselves. But what would happen if I told you that being good in the design is less about aesthetics and more about the structural decision -making that can advance business success?
As a leading background in the design and years of experience, as a leading both creative and business projects, I myself have seen how proper design thinking can make or break up. Unfortunately, many businessmen either invest more in design or completely ignore its importance, which causes a challenge that prevents their growth.
So, how do you kill the right balance? Here is a really good starting design for the founders of Startup and why it is important to young companies.
Related: How Design thinking can help you ask the right questions (and get the right answers)
The design is about decision -making, not decoration
In fact, the design is the decision -making. It is about thinking of a problem, collecting the right information, and thinking about this problem – whether in product development, branding or customer experience.
The founders who accept the thinking think that before the imagination of anything begins with the design. This includes collecting data, researching users' needs and deliberately choosing. In fact, the visual component is the only tip of iceberg. When the founders have focused on aesthetics that need to run these visuals without understanding the visual decisions, they take the risk of developing products that look good but fail to resonate with the market.
The matter of a product is to deal with my co -founders and I launched Remi. We were so obsessed with the vision that we thought the problem Should Solutions, we did not refrain from considering how our target market users would actually be affected by products. The result was a beautifully developed product that was eventually not saving the basic user at any time.
These expensive mistakes are easy to make by the founders, and they highlight one of the basic principles of design thinking: to align your design with real -world needs, not your suggested vision.
The balance between perfection and practicalism
The biggest challenge for the founders is to know how long the design is. I have seen that Startups have done hundreds of hours of small details – such as just completing fonts and color schemes – without thinking how their products fit the market. This kind of investment can be disastrous, especially for the beginning of the early stages where there is a shortage of time and resources.
The founders need to maintain a balance between creating something that looks good and something that is active and ready for the market. In my experience, looking for inspiration is an important part of this process. This does not mean copying other companies at all but using existing brands in your industry as a benchmark.
For example, if you are developing a product of an ignorant or outdated market, you do not need to intend to level the design sophistication found in brands like Apple. Instead, find a middle ground where you raise your product above the competition without wasting time or money that you try to make nothing.
Related: hug the design thinking to create more relevant marketing
An excellent example of this is a startup with which I did a job called Previ. Previ had just launched his verification product but he was struggling to get part of the enterprise marketing. They felt as if they needed to improve aspects of their marketing site and sub branding material so that the gap could start closing.
While it was true, his benchmark was a company called dynamic dot xz. The difference in their visual identity was not large enough to guarantee a brand or product new design. So when we made minor modifications to the brand and website, we invested a lot in a well -designed self -service demo for potential users. The demo helped them stand, and quickly transferred the potential deals through their art. We used the design to create a different approach instead of trying to achieve the sapot design perfection.
Good design raises your brand – but only if its support is supported
For startups, especially those who want funding, the design can act as a powerful discrimination. Experienced investors believe that good design is associated with high business performance in both products and service -based businesses. A well -designed product or brand can indicate maturity and professionalism that investors do not often see in the early stages, and persuade them to invest.
But to work as a design for you, it has to keep it in a deep understanding of your user needs.
A company with whom I recently talked about is trying to re -design Plapens for the US market. Current designs are complex and unpleasant, and they are trying to introduce better, more aesthetically pleasant options. But before they launch their new products, it is important not only to understand what it looks good but what the buyers are ready to pay and how the product fits in their lives. And obviously, as any product manufactured for children, safety is incredibly important. The last product is not just about making something that looks beautiful – it's about making something that solves a problem and fit into the customer's world.
Such thinking applies not only to physical products but also to software and digital products. In Venture Capital, design plays an important role in helping companies secure funds. Startups that can show a clear, deliberate design – just beyond the visual – often stand in the competitive round because they show that they have wondered how their products fit the market. Investors take note of the founders who have applied a systematic approach to decision -making.
Related: understanding the power of design and branding
Design thinking as a business strategy
Being good in the design is not just about to know what it looks like, it is about to know how to make a smart, deliberate, deliberate, to make your business forward. The founders who accept the design thinking are better to produce products that are beautiful but also solve real problems, fit the market and attract investors.
But there is a balance. In perfection, not lost in the early stages, especially in the early stages. Use your competitors as a benchmark, create a middle ground purpose and focus on how design can only run business success, but also business success. Design thinking, when the right work is done, the founder's weapons can have the most powerful tool.
