If you’re a bootstrapped startup, turn to user-centered design to thrive during adversity

The goal of each design process is to create a great product for your end- users.

The success or failure of a project can be influenced by the use of UCD. The stakes are higher in this environment.

The capital markets used to give funding to any team with a good idea and reasonable business plan. UCD can be the difference between a business getting off the ground or not.

The UCD approach and checklist

The approach is flexible. Remember a few key principles. There is a list of things to consider when creating a UCD approach.

• Ask a lot of questions to understand why your customers want a problem to be solved.
• The optimal number of prototypes/ideas to have at one time is five. Anything else is counterproductive.
• Consider if you are solving an emotional problem.
• When testing, practice empathy (understanding, not sympathy).
• Incorporate design philosophies that address accessibility.

It is critical to adapt based on user interactions. It is not what users say that is important; it is what they do.

In the middle of the Great Recession, external funding was not an option for us. We used UCD for everything from the company name and logo to our first product because of the lean approach we took. Some ways to do more with less will be learned from each of the lessons.

UCD for the business concept

Our original plan was to launch a software test management tool similar to other more expensive, complex and harder to use products already on the market. We believed that a better, simpler product with a more user-friendly user interface at a significantly lower price point would be easy to market and sell. The product is now known as "Spira Test."

We asked a lot of questions before launching the business. I was lucky that I was employed by a company that did a lot of project management and software testing. I was able to work with a lot of real-world users.