Mini UI-UX Bundle for Start-Ups

This page is a response to the typical list of materials that I recommend for start-ups during advisor sessions at the EC. It is intended to give a high-level look at the advantage of designing for users first (not customers and not even dev first!) and a standard process to follow until you can invest in UX and UI professionals. 

If you'd like more in-depth experience, consider the UI & UX Digital Product Design Course at Nashville Software School. 

Required Reading

Playbook

  • A playbook of 13 key “plays” drawn from successful practices from the private sector and government that, if followed together, will build effective digital services: Digital Services Playbook. A good checklist to measure whether your product is on the right track

Design & Research Process: Field Guide

  • There are lots of ways to skin a cat, but the Design Thinking process has been around and has proven successful time and time again. And the founding company, IDEO, created a Field Guide with step-by-step instructions and examples. They have also generously offered a free PDF version if you can't swing the $30 for the bound & printed version: The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design. (The $30 is worth it.)

3 Levels of Products: Actual-Core-Augmented

  • Your kick-off meeting needs to include a clear, solid product definition. Read True North for Products. Already had your kick-off meeting? It’s always good to check and make sure your team is heading in the right direction.

Personas

  • Who are you making this for? Is your customer the same person as your user? Take the time to think this through and these personas will be the guiding voice for your business, design, and tech teams. I can't tell you how much time and frustration you will save by spending time on developing personas!

UX Research

  • How to do a Research Interview by Graham R Gibbs [video 18:10] (Examples of a good and a bad interview)

  • Just Enough Research by Erika Hall: "Discover your competitive advantages, spot your own blind spots and biases, and learn how to distill and harness your findings." (small book!)

Prototyping

Repeat this mantra: Fast, Efficient, and Enough. The purpose of a prototype is to learn and to demonstrate an idea. How much time, detail, and materials you put into it depends on how much you need to test. It should be done quickly but efficiently so that only enough time and materials are spent to test the stage your product is currently in. No more, no less. If it's a brand new idea, then sketches on paper are enough. Then the next step will be wireframes, then hi-fidelity prototypes, until the next phase when you may need to go back to paper. It's a cycle. Embrace it. 

Usability Testing

Graphic Design & Composition

There are basics of smart design that will make any website attractive and user-friendly. This article is a good introduction: Composition: Beauty and Functionality.