Last year I joined a startup as the first designer. The team I was in was responsible for developing the e-commerce store and it was initially me and two developers, one of whom joined at the same time with me. There were some improvement ideas lined up so I did not have to start without any direction but quite soon the main question on my mind was ”what should I do first to get going with design?”
Here’s my take on what to do first, based on what I did and what I learned from doing it.
Set up what you need for the design process
There are some basic requirements to be able to even get started with design. So imagine going through the design process and note down what you need to be able to do. For me this list included things like:
- Talking with customers
- Sending surveys to customers
- Creating UI designs
- Communicating designs to developers
- Using data about how the product is used
- Brainstorming with others / running workshops
- Doing A/B tests
The list is never going to be complete in the beginning but just figuring out the first things makes it possible to get started. It’s not important to make things perfect, just good enough that it’s possible to do the work.
Understand how the customers feel about the product
Talk with a number of customers about the current user experience and map out what they like and what’s a painpoint. Read through any previous research, browse through data that you have access to. Read customer feedback. Talk with the customer support team.
Figure out the history
I find it highly valuable to figure out the history when it comes to products that are not new. Using internet archive to see earlier versions of the company’s website helps understand what kind of things have been changed and what has stayed the same. It helps you see what is the result of careful iteration and what is just something that no one has touched over the years. Seeing the history of a product expalains a lot.
Try to understand the context
There is a thoughtful article about superficial design in design job applications and what to do instead. I think it applies quite nicely for the context of starting as the first designer.
From broad ideation to pixel level detail, designers should always be thinking about their company’s mission, vision and product architecture. Everything they do should flow through this funnel.
The very first step is understanding the mission and vision of the company and understand what is the role of the product you are working on in that context.
If there already is an existing product, try to reverse engineer the product architecture. What are the different parts of the product and what roles do they play? What are their relationships?
This might be quite hard but it helps focus on what matters.
Get familiar with the concept of product development maturity
Product development maturity refers to how advanced the company is with processes and practises related to product development. If you are the first designer in a company, chances are that product development maturity in the company is at a low level.
Do yourself a service and read about what it means for a company to be good at product development and make your own conclusions related to where you are. Reading this book or this book will give you a lot of context for what product development means at a company level. This will save you from not paying attention to this topic and being confused at why your work is not having the kind of impact you wish it had.
Get familiar with the concept of learning cycles
Learning cycles are startup jargon which you can learn more about from The Lean Startup. This is among the most important things when it comes to doing design in a startup. Startups are figuring out how to get a product to fit the market’s needs and wants, and the faster you can move towards that goal the better. Learning cycles refer to building a version of the product, testing it with customers, and learning from the testing. This should be the standard way of working in a startup and if you are doing anything else, you are probably doing something wrong.
If it takes multiple weeks or months from the beginning of a project until you have learned if it has potential to work you are moving too slow.
Don’t commit to a large project without making sure it has the potential to create value for the customer and the business.