This document discusses design at startups from the perspective of Jan Miksovsky, Co-Founder and VP of User Experience at Cozi. It provides advice on finding a great designer who focuses on users, iterates frequently based on user feedback, and ships designs rather than doing endless research. It also notes that design requires trust from founders and executives and is not enough on its own - a good design also needs funding, management, engineering, distribution, business model, hard work, and luck to make a meaningful impact.

1. User Experience & Metrics
Design at a startup, from your perspective
September 25, 2010
Jan Miksovsky
Co-Founder and VP User Experience, Cozi

2. Bare-bones design can be successful
Home page, 2010
First home page, 1998

3. Design determines what the product IS

4. Can you design?

5. Can you design well?

6. Finding a great designer
1. Has title like
UX Designer
UI Designer
Interaction Designer
Visual Designer
Graphic Designer
2. Talks about users, users, users
3. Worked on something users liked
(maybe not commercially successful)
4. Can weigh a business compromise
5. Cares about shipping, not research

7. Design starts by talking with users
Photo: Hobvias Sudoneighm

8. Need finding

9. Ideation

10. Pretty Photoshop

11. Create the simplest thing that could possibly work

12. Create the simplest thing that could possibly work

13. Create the simplest thing that could possibly work

14. Even a great designer will miss 25% of the time

15. Iterate — September 2006
• Example?

16. Iterate — December 2006

17. Iterate – February 2008

18. Iterate – March 2008

19. Iterate – June 2008

20. Iterate – August 2009

21. Iterate – June 2010

22. Iterate – August 2010

23. Iterate – September 9, 2010

24. Iterate – September 30, 2010

25. Designs that don’t ship are meaningless
404 Error
The page cannot be found

26. Your input as
founder/executive
Your input as
just another user
Feature priorities
(what business needs)
Feature priorities
(what users want)
Existence of problems
with the product
Solutions to problems
with the product
Whether design is
supporting your brand
Look and feel

27. Bucket testing (A/B testing)

28. ROI of design
“It’s impossible to measure ROI for user
experience with a simple equation that
can be applied across a wide swath of
companies and projects.”
“Leveraging Business Value: How ROI Changes
User Experience”, Adaptive Path
http://adaptivepath.com/ideas/reports/businessvalue

29. Design requires trust

30. Design requires trust

31. Design requires trust

32. Design requires trust

33. Design requires trust

34. Design is not enough
Without
• Funds
• Good management
• Great engineers
• Distribution
• Business model
• Hard work
• And copious amounts of luck
… a great design won’t matter

35. Design, from your perspective
• Bring a great designer on board
• Start with the simplest thing that could
possibly work
• Design will miss 25% of the time
• Expect iteration
• Designs that don’t ship are meaningless
• Trust your designer
• Design is not enough

36. Thank you
Jan Miksovsky
jan@cozi.com
miksovsky.blogs.com/flowstate
@JanMiksovsky