Going to work for a small business or startup can be an exciting and enriching experience. It can also be risky. Paying attention to the design process, managing your time, and educating stakeholders will help you succeed as a User Experience (UX) Designer in a startup atmosphere. Although working for a startup can be stressful, it can also be exciting and you may have the option to work remotely.
Scaled-Down, Hybrid Design
Small businesses and startups are often creative and risk-takers, so UX design tends to be embraced, but they are often cash-strapped and trying to get products to market as quickly as possible. The companies often rely on MVPs for this. MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product, a stripped-down, simplified product some companies create to get feedback as quickly as possible. MVPs don’t take as long to produce, so a company can get a product on the market with lower development costs.
One of the advantages of MVPs is to have a version of the product for testing without sinking a lot of development money into it. The team gets early feedback on the product and can make changes as they are necessary. Another advantage is that the company can find out if there is actually any demand for the product. By releasing an MVP, they are not wasting time and energy on a product that is going to fail.
Startups often look for people who can fill many design roles from visual design to prototyping and testing. Small companies often work with smaller teams and don’t have as much funding as more established firms.
Go Lean
You may find yourself having to educate the owners and other employees of the company on the importance of user-centered design, particularly where research is concerned. Lean UX allows you to streamline the design process and create a good enough product quickly. The foundational concepts of Lean UX are collaboration and iteration. This means that the team is constantly in touch and working together to test and improve the design throughout, through transparency and responsiveness rather than planning and procedure.
Passionate About the Product
Startups are often passionate about the product they are creating, but they need to be careful of cutting too many corners. As many as 90 % of startups fail before they are 10 years old, so it is worthwhile to try to convince the company that user research is an important part of the UX Designer’s job. UX design can increase customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, so it is important for stakeholders to get on board.
UX research looks at users’ attitudes and behaviors toward the website or app under development. They conduct quantitative and qualitative research to test the product and then report on their findings. UX researchers conduct interviews, run surveys, and perform usability studies of various types, then analyze the data and report their findings to the design team.
Heavy Workload
While startups can be very forward-thinking, they also tend to have limited funding and see UX design as an extra expense. You may find yourself working alone with a heavy workload. If you aren’t careful about your time management you could suffer burnout. Schedule your work in blocks to let you concentrate on your tasks, and communicate with the team so that they are aware of what you are doing. One example might be to devote a day to user interviews and data analysis, with no meetings to let you get your work done without interruptions.
Be careful that overwork isn’t part of the corporate culture. If most of the team spends late nights at the office, it might be time to take a look at the design process. If you can’t convince stakeholders to slow down and pay more attention to details, it might be time to move on.
Remote or In-Person Work
While the workload may be heavy, startups can be flexible about where employees actually work. You may be able to choose to work from home instead of coming into the office.
Remote Work
Many workers prefer to work remotely from home. Remote work requires discipline and motivation to get the work done and on time. Time management is important for remote work, but if you hate commuting and don’t mind video meetings, small companies tend to be more supportive of employees who want to work from home or on an unusual schedule than larger ones.
In-Person Work
Working in person for a small firm is more structured. You will need to follow the company’s schedule for daily and holiday work, and request days off ahead of time. You will also need to work closely with others on a day-to-day basis, so polish up your communications skills.
Where to Learn UX Design
If you would like to learn more about UX/UI design in order to switch to a new career, one of the best ways to do that is to sign up for classes. You can choose classes that meet in-person or online to learn design software and other applications. Some people prefer to attend brick-and-mortar sessions when learning new information, but that isn’t always available. Live online classes have a similar set-up with a real-time, remote instructor who can answer questions and take control of your monitor—with permission—to show you how to do things. Training is part or full-time and available weekdays, weeknights, or weekends.
The best way to prepare for a career shift to a field like UX design is to enroll in a bootcamp or certificate program. These are intensive training courses that run from a few weeks to a few months and another plus of training is that you will leave class with a professional-quality portfolio that you can show to prospective employers.
Conclusion
It’s easy to learn UX design and start a new career. Check out Noble Desktop’s UX design classes. Choose between in-person sessions in NYC at Noble’s location or sign up for live online UX design courses and attend from anywhere. Use Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me to find other UX design bootcamps in your area.