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Can Designers Benefit A Startup?
Unlock a Startup’s Creative Potential with Design Religion.
An important requirement for a startup is to identify a real user need for which a product proposition can be built. Thus, Design & Design Thinking have become imperative for entrepreneurs. The contribution of Design is to see things from a human centric perspective to define and identify relevant problems.
Design is no longer the top layer. It is not just about enhancing a product, but about bringing market relevance and delivering measurable outcomes. It involves making sense out of ill-defined and unclear problems. As innovators, designers observe, experiment and contextualise products. They practice innovative design thinking behaviours to support product development and appeal to buyers.
Designers can wear many hats in the early days of the startup. Being multidisciplinary and equipped with a broad range of skills, they understand user requirements and simultaneously develop the solutions. They work in user research, information architecture, interaction and communication design, enabling products or solutions to reach the market effectively. Being technically sound, designers understand both technology and people well.
Entrepreneurship comes with a range of challenges. One key challenge for entrepreneurs is to make customer experience memorable. It is important for them to fit into the user’s mental map and understand unarticulated needs. As a result, startups often place trust in designers.
Designers focus on user experience. They operate across technology and human behaviour. Their technical skills help in the use of tools and technology while their exposure to people and contexts supports an understanding of user expectations.
Designers influence behaviour and guide users toward intended actions. A designer studies and examines the subject thoroughly and accordingly makes changes in behaviour. Designers also invest considerable time in product testing to improve customer experience and encourage product adoption.
Through extensive research, designers approach design as a method of examining the problem area of the business or customer and then refining the product. They understand the market, map behavioural patterns and problem areas and accordingly develop solutions.
Design Thinking and Design Doing, through processes, methods and tools, enable startups to convert abstract ideas into products and services. While it is easy to propose an innovative idea, the challenge lies in moving from problem space to solution space where design can act as a catalyst.
Innovation and creativity are central to design. With design at its core, a startup can create engaging consumer experiences. Design contributes to internal and external processes and creates value in multiple ways.
A quote by Donald Norman, the author of ‘The Design of Everyday Things’ summarises these ideas. He quoted - “It is not enough that we build products that function, that are understandable and usable, we also need to build products that bring joy and excitement, pleasure and fun, and, yes, beauty to people’s lives.”
When starting a business alongside established players, a good designer can be a valuable asset. Designers can help distinguish a business through design mindset and well-developed products. For businesses aiming to remain competitive, having a dedicated person who understands users’ mental maps and offers solutions to business challenges can be beneficial.
In the coming years, consumer expectations for online experiences are likely to rise and design may become more central to startups. Hiring a designer and involving them in decision-making can help improve engagement and understanding of consumers, business needs and products.
Note to the Reader: This article is part of Hindustan Times' promotional consumer connect initiative and is independently created by the brand. Hindustan Times assumes no editorial responsibility for the content.
