Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Nathan Allsopp

There is more to success than good tech.

Ooh, pretty tech. Please may I have some tech? Image by Markus Spiske

Take a look around your social networks and you’re bound to find someone you know venturing into “startup land”. Someone always has an awesome idea for a mobile app or online platform. The common problem that most of them have is…

I don’t know how to code!

Ah yes, this old gem — the punchline that everyone has heard before. This conundrum leads side-hustlers down the rabbit hole trying to find ways to build the codebase that underpins their idea.

Don’t get me wrong — finding a solution to this problem is necessary in order to start. However, this run down the rabbit hole seems to be a slippery slope for many startups.

The focus always seems to be “on the tech”. It’s what I like to call tech infatuation. Whether it is day 1 or day 100, many founders end up obsessed with the tech.

We can’t do that — because tech!. Need more tech. Forget the plan — tech. Wait, can you explain “the tech” again?

Tech. Tech. Tech. Goose.

All of a sudden, we’re in the situation of non-techs drowning in tech. Conversations about Elastic Beanstalk versus Heroku versus EC2 are going in one ear and out the other.

The tech is important, but it is only one part of the bigger picture. Focusing only on the technology means other key business functions may not be getting enough consideration.

These are the key areas that founders need to also focus on along the way.

User Research

Simply talking with people is a great way to learn more about your idea. Unsplash

Having an idea is a great start, but in reality the idea is the smallest step of the journey.

You need to latch onto a problem that you can solve well and determine if the problem is large enough. Some ideas will be met with “Shut up and take my money!”, while others sound more like “That sounds like a nice thing to have”. Your product is the solution to your problem. Remember:

Problem first, product second. Click to tweet.

Research is critical to ensure you’re solving a problem, and that there is a market for that problem. Put the tech and business plans down for a second, and really focus on the people. Listen to what they have to say. After all, they’re the ones who will pay you for the solution.

Product Design

Design is more than visuals — it is the way you solve your problem. Unsplash

Many startups have a specific function in mind that forms the backbone of their idea. What many fail to consider is the overall solution that they’re trying to deliver.

Sure — every product needs pretty visuals and a few pages. But there’s more to it than just the aesthetics.

Problems need to be scoped, tested and validated.

Wireframes need to be created and validated.

Various design approaches need to be brainstormed and carefully considered.

Users (or potential users) need to be engaged with. Prototypes need to be created.

Crafting the entire visual solution to a problem is a task that is often underestimated. Your visuals are more than your visuals — they are how you solve the problem your company is based upon.

There is a huge world of Product Designers out there ready to help bring your idea visually to life, or you can choose from a range of basic design to get started. If budget is tight, tools such as Sketchapp, Adobe XD or Figma are a great way to start alongside a few tutorials.

Documentation

Documentation helps keep goals and objectives clear.

Ah, the funnest part of them all. Documentation may seem “fluffy” to some, but I’ve found it to be incredibly important.

When you’re building a product, communication is critical. When you’re not doing everything yourself, you need to be communicating clearly. If you do a poor job of explaining requirements to those building your product, unexpected surprises will pop-up along the way.

You thought you explained X, but you got Y. Small communication issues can equal big problems. Click to tweet.

As a result, documentation can be a great way to ensure everything is clear to the team involved. Put the tech aside and provide a breakdown of the idea and the concept. What actually needs to occur? What does a user need to be able to do and see? What does this function need to do?

Marketing

How people perceive and understand your product is critical. Unsplash

You may be building a great product, but you also need a great brand to act as the face of your product. The perceptions that people have about your brand play a key role in whether they’re likely to consider using your product or not.

As you go through the stages of building a product, you need to consider a few key Marketing activities that may help you gather some initial interest.

Do you have a brand name and logo?
What is your marketing plan around the product’s launch?
Do you have a website live to collect interest before you launch?
Have you considered what your key Marketing messages are?
Are presentation decks done and ready to go?
Do you have a content strategy to help build your brand reputation?
Have you considered what pricing strategy you will follow?

There are a lot of marketing activities to be done — even more could be added to the above list. Some may not be as significant as others, but collectively they all play important roles. My favourite thought is:

If users can see it, it needs to be thought about very carefully. Click to tweet.

Business Development

Having a product is one thing, but getting people to use it and pay for it is another.

Reaching out to prospects, organising meetings, preparing presentations and closing deals takes times and effort. These activities are key for a startup as this is what brings in the revenue.

Talking with prospects also helps a startup learn what features are critical to their monetisation strategy. This helps teams better prioritise work to ensure roadmaps remain indicative of what are the most “in demand” features.

Taking the time to build relationships can give a startup plenty of opportunities they might not otherwise have. Sitting in and focusing on building your product won’t expose you to these relationships that could propel a product’s growth rapidly.

So, next time you’re focusing on the tech, be sure to ask yourself — am I too focused on the tech?

Nathan Allsopp is a Freelance Product/UI/UX Consultant based in Sydney, Australia. This article appeared originally here.

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Startups — don’t get lost in the tech was originally published in Prototypr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Startups — don’t get lost in the tech

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