Features of web design for startups

Design for startups can often be compared with bad roads. For an inexperienced designer, the process can be rather thorny if he has not prepared for it in advance.

Fortunately, the startups themselves realize that design is an integral component of the growth strategy; therefore, high-quality design is becoming more and more popular today. More and more startups understand that good design is not only a color palette and caramel buttons. Design affects the communication with the audience, sales, competitiveness and, as a result, the growth of the company.

It’s impossible to ignore design when there are companies like Apple. Already, many startups, Path, Airbnb, Square, Massive Health, make design the core of their business and get phenomenal results. But what is design really? Logo? Theme WordPress? Innovative interface? Design - a lot more than all of the above. Design is a way of thinking. This is an approach to the problem. This is about how to kick ass competitors.

Key design features

Designer Wels Riley wrote a great research article about startup design . In his article, Riley tried to combine the vision of design by startups and designers who design websites for them. But, before starting the study, Riley listed, in his opinion, those key design qualities that correspond to its true purpose.
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Innovation . Opportunities for innovation will never be exhausted. New technologies open up new opportunities for innovative design. Innovative design is always developed in tandem with innovative technologies and can never be an end in itself.

Utility . For a product to be useful, it must meet certain criteria: functional, psychological, aesthetic. Good design emphasizes the usefulness of the product.

Aesthetics . Aesthetic qualities of the product - an integral part of the utility. The products we use every day affect us and our lives. Only a well-designed product can be beautiful.

Understandable . The design clarifies the device of the product. It allows the product to tell about itself. A product with a good design does not need instructions, it is “self-explanatory”.

Unobtrusive . Design is not an art or decoration skill. Design - a tool for solving certain problems. It must be neutral and discreet in order to allow users to express themselves.

Sincerity . The design does not create the appearance that the product is more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. He does not try to manipulate users and does not give promises that he cannot keep.

Timelessness Good design avoids being fashionable, and therefore will never be old-fashioned. Unlike fashion, such a design lives for many years even in our one-time society.

Thoroughness . The design can not be random things and something left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect for consumers.

Environmental friendliness . Design makes a significant contribution to environmental protection. It conserves resources and minimizes physical and visual contamination throughout the life of the product.

Minimalist . Better less, but better. A good design focuses the user's attention on the fundamental aspects of the product, and does not burden it with irrelevant details. Cleaner, easier.

What design qualities are most important for startups?

In order to answer this question, Riley interviewed 78 directors, marketers and designers. The survey showed that both sides of the design process see the design roughly the same. The most important quality for both groups is aesthetics. In second place is the design ability to emphasize the useful properties of the product. Closes the top three innovation.



Good quality design is rooted in a startup culture. It seems that a lot of people are ready for change. Not only do many entrepreneurs, developers and engineers see real opportunities for improving their product through design, they are also largely convinced that the designer should be a full-fledged member of the team. Design becomes a key competitive advantage, allowing you to receive funding, media attention and audience loyalty.



For many years the pair of co-founders consisted of an executive director and an engineer. It worked for Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and many others. Now I have excellent designers working in these companies, because it is a necessity that they cannot ignore. It seems that the design really becomes more and more significant in startups.

How should a designer build a relationship with a startup?

However, not everything is so rosy. To successfully work with startups, the designer must take into account the specifics of this business. Below are the main difficulties with startups.

Quick change

The goals and objectives of the work can be changed daily, so special attention should be paid to a clear work schedule and the same clear description of remuneration. If the task is written anyhow, then you have all the chances to spend on the project much more time than you expected, but to receive as much money as you asked.

Describe in detail your responsibilities and work schedule, as well as include in the contract the conditions that determine the remuneration for any additional work that goes beyond the initial tasks.

Note: Of course, this applies to any project, but in the case of a startup, increased attention to the agreements is especially important because of the promiscuous activities of the young business.

Disorder in business processes

Design for startups requires a stress resistance designer. Startups are constantly faced with some difficulties, so chaotic business processes are peculiar to them. These are growing pains that the designer will have to accept if he wants to work with startups. Your ability to remain calm in all situations works in your favor and your reputation.

Vague ideas about the audience

One of the tasks of creating an effective design for a startup is to create a clear portrait of the user. You need to extract as much information from the client as possible, even if it does not fully represent who it is making the site or application for.

You have to imagine the audience, even if it is fictional. You must predict user behavior on the site. All your knowledge about the properties of the audience should be applied in the design, thereby increasing the conversion of the site.

Do not be afraid to share your ideas with the client regarding the audience. Thus, you will not only prove yourself as an expert, but also help your design to become more efficient, since this information is key to the success of the site.

When I start working with a client, I ask him to fill out a questionnaire. The questionnaire is designed to elicit from the client as much information as possible about the target audience. Without this information, my design will be meaningless, because I can not arouse the right emotions and keep the user on the site.

In order to keep the user on the site you need to literally climb into his head and find out what moves him. What are his habits? Needs? Experiences? Problems? Understanding the target audience gives you an advantage and allows you to develop a high-conversion design that does not contradict the owner's vision.

Thanks for attention!

Tell about your design experience for startups and about your vision of the key qualities of effective design.

From translator

Literary translation: the meaning is the same, but in some places in very different words. First of all, I myself am both a designer and a start-up, the topic is close to me, therefore I allowed myself any author's liberties. Secondly, even though the article as a whole is interesting and correct, in some places the cap was clearly helped by the author. Such places either cut or tried to reduce. Thirdly, half of the original article was not quite original. The author in his own words retells the promotional website article research by Vela Riley . Unfortunately, when checking it turned out that “in my own words,” the girl got much worse than Riley, so I took the text about the key design qualities from the original source.