There has been a constant rise in demand for UX designers, but what really is UX design? And how can it help startups move their business forward?
What is UX?
UX stands for user experience, which refers to a person’s emotions and attitudes about using a particular product, system or service. It includes the practical, experiential, affective, meaningful and valuable aspects of human–computer interaction and product ownership – which means it includes the online and offline experience of the consumer with a brand or product.
What can we tell if it’s a good design?
From landing pages to store shopping experiences – how do you if your design is good? Well there are a couple of performance indicators you can use:
Sales: Did the experience result in sales? An increase in sales is a good reflection of straightforward user experience.
Retention: Did the customer became a returning customer? A returning customer is a sign of satisfied consumer.
Completion of a task: Did the consumer finish the goal of the experience (be it an application submission, points conversion, video watched)?
It’s important to define how you measure the success of the design – by clearly defining a goal for it that can be turned into the KPI (Key Performance Indicator).
UX for Startups
When building your product, everything comes down to your user experience. From how you approach your clients initially to how their invoice is generated, presenting your startup in the best possible light is essential.
The methods used by UX Designers are, essentially, the methods most lean startups use: prototyping, iterative learning and lots of testing.
These methods allow startups to discover what works before investing lots of money into manufacturing or developing the product. They use the vast amount of user data available (through social media and smart devices) and apply its new technologies such as artificial intelligence, to create valuable insights for the business.
The Value of Design
A report by McKinsey indicates that the companies that succeed in using design as a methodology (who scored in top-quartile in the McKinsey Design Index) also outperformed industry-benchmark growth as much as two to one.
They also noted that to achieve these results is not enough to just hire UX Designers (although that helps!), but also to embrace design thinking throughout the company. The top performers all succeeded in these four main areas:
Analytical Leadership:
To embrace design metrics as heartily as revenues and cost metrics. This analytical thinking can help leaders make decisions based on evidence rather than gut feelings. This type of thinking must also create a deeper knowledge of the consumer (what the consumer needs and not what it says it wants) for all employees, including executives.
A design methodology is not something that you can do just once – it’s something that must be continuously worked on in order to work. The best-performing companies encourage continuous testing, learning and iterating. This constant work helps companies avoid big costly mistakes.
User Experience
The importance of user-centricity, demands a broad-based view of where design can make a difference. This means mapping a customer journey with its pain points and delights, rather than re-using a previous model. The broader view of the consumer journey will demand a break down of the barriers between digital and physical, as the online world gets intertwined with real experiences in the consumers’ world.
In the end user experience is all about design thinking in all areas of a business, which its focal point is to minimize all risks by getting more accurate information to base decisions on.
The 11th edition of Lisbon Challenge is advancing at full steam! The teams are in their third week of the program, and well into the validation phase. We’ve mentioned how intensive the program is, but do you want to know how much? Let’s go over the program overview!
A people-centric approach
Lisbon Challenge is Beta-i’s flagship accelerator program, and one of the most recognized programs in Europe. It’s a 10-week program designed to question the founders’ assumptions, help them find their product-market fit and prepare them for the road ahead – scaling and investment.
The program inherited Beta-i’s people-centric approach – but what does that mean?
It means that throughout the phases, founders will be challenged to take a people-centric approach:
On customers – the people they are solving the problem for;
The team – the people they are building the company with;
Themselves – who they are as entrepreneurs and how they need to evolve with the business.
Program Timeline
For 10 weeks, the 6 teams on this edition will go through an intense program, filled with enriching content, workshops and mentoring sessions. The goal is for them to be in perfect shape for Investment Day, the culmination of those 10 weeks on acceleration.
These are the phases:
Validation
The founders will start by validating their value proposition and gaining a better understanding of what could be their target audience and their potential needs.
Product And Tech
A deep-dive into the startups’ solutions and the technology behind them. They must discover and define how is their project solving the clients’ needs better than any other out there, and design a roadmap for product market fit.
Growth
Here the founders will learn how to talk with customers and make sure they don’t leave after trying the product. In a nutshell, it will be all about customer retention and which metrics should be analyzed in order to figure it out.
Investment
In this phase, it’s all about preparing for investment! Startups learn to understand investors, and what they are looking for. They also learn practical stuff – what to say (and not to say!), and to tell your story and get investors to listen to them. This is an important phase as it leads to investment day!
Investment Day
The 10 weeks of the program lead up to Investment Day – a day when the startups will pitch on stage and then meet investors and possible corporate partners. This batch will have the whole ecosystem cheering on them – as they will be pitching at Lisbon Investment Summit, happening on the 6th and 7th of June.
Startups can sound like american college fraternities
The startupian language is not an american college fraternity glossary but… you can definitely find your favorite greek letters there as Alphas and Betas are here to stay.
If a startup is on Alpha stage, it is on its very first version, testing and finding their way through life. Naturally, Beta comes right after, looking more confident and trustworthy. Since you are more mature, some investors can even give you an allowance.
This is just the intro of the startupian ABC and since all startups speak the same language, here are a few other things I think you should know if you want to be startupian-fluent.
(Or even if you don’t know anything about it but would like to get a glimpse)
It’s a two-animal ecosystem – and one doesn’t even exist
The first – You dream about it, you want one for Christmas.
Yes, of course, it’s the unicorn.
If you are a startup, most of the times, you want to become one. With your long colored hair of over $1 billion. That’s an expensive haircut that in 2018 more than 260 startups had.
The second – you avoid it, you don’t want it in your house.
Yup, the “OMG WHAT IS THIS” Cockroach.
It is the startup that is growing gradually and progressively. It will, as a cockroach, outlive you.
It all starts with a seed.
It is the rule of life! Well, in this case it’s more about money.
Seed Money is the initial money a startup gets to start – from the founders themselves, though savings or loans, family and friends help or even external investors. Besides this, there are several other investment rounds a startup can receive.
“You’re loving Angels instead”
(Pardon my pop culture, late 90’s and early 00’s have made a come back here in the office)
Well, you will love them, as Angel Investors usually invest in an initial moment of a startup. There is, of course, a lot of other Investors for Startups.
“What’s your Pitch, tell me what’s your Pitch”
(Told you!)
So, if you grab your online Oxford Dictionary, the 7th and my favourite definition of pitch – at least while writing this post – is “A place where a street vendor or performer stations themselves or sets up a stall.”
Now, imagine the world has transformed itself into a huge Speakers’ Corner and all places are good for you to set up your stall. It should be a concise, clarifying and captivating presentation of your startup. This is possible, especially if you are following the right tips.
Also, we’ve set up the perfect stage for a startup to set up their stall – just Apply to Pitch at #LIS19
Attentive has been in Beta-i’s ecosystem for a long time – they were winners of the Fall Edition of Lisbon Challenge in 2015. Since then, they have grown their company and took advantage of Beta-i’s network and events – just like Lisbon Investment Summit.
We spoke with Daniel Araújo, CEO and Co-founder of Attentive.us about their relationship with events like LIS.
ReThink: What first attracted you to attend Lisbon Investment Summit the first time around?
Daniel Araújo: We were part of the Beta-i community even before the first edition of the Lisbon Investment Summit, so when we heard about it we were very excited about having an informal gathering of many of the key European investors interacting with early-stage Portuguese startups. Since that first edition, Beta-i always brought a nice element of surprise, in the content and in the venues, that kept the event’s unique positioning untouched.
RT: What did you enjoy more in your experience at LIS?
DA: I’d highlight the vibe that you feel among all the attendees – positive, open, constructive. There’s always a lot to talk about around the content of the panels, and the event feels designed to leave some room for casual interactions. This makes it incredibly fruitful. Did I mention that everyone seems to be having a great time? 🙂
RT: How did your attendance at LIS impact your business?
DA: Every year, participating in LIS allows us to strengthen and reinforce our connections to the ecosystem, especially around investors. We’ve got several investors that we meet only at LIS, despite us participating in other events across Europe and the US. We also got to meet many partners of the Portuguese ecosystem, which have supported us in so many different ways over the years. I get asked many times by early-stage founders how to kickstart their network, and my invariable answer is: go to the Lisbon Investment Summit – network and absorb the great content.
RT: You recently announced your latest investment round of $1.2M, led by Mangrove Capital and Indico Capital Partners. Did Beta-i or LIS help you get in touch with your investors, or in some other way?
DA: Beta-i and LIS are intrinsically linked to our company’s first steps, so they played – actually, they still play today – a very important role in our development and growth. Not only did the event kickstart our network when we were starting, but we also refined and tuned our pitch, improved the way we communicate our vision and contributed to us getting access to TechStars. After meeting several dozens of investors, Mangrove, Indico and we were incredibly aligned on our vision for what Attentive can become. Moreover, they have an incredible track record, which will surely help us as we grow.
RT: Why do you think Portuguese startups are so relevant and able to attract foreign investment?
DA: There’s a very combination of benefits that Portuguese startups can and should take advantage of, several of them have been shown repeatedly at #LIS: English-speaking, global ambitions, strong universities, and talent. In the last few years, as investors started to come for LIS and the Web Summit, they have built a local trust network that gives them the confidence in our talent. I’m pretty sure that will only increase over the next editions of LIS!
Gil Dibner, Founder and Managing Partner at Angular Ventures, has been confirmed as a speaker on Lisbon Investment Summit, happening on the 6th and 7th of June in sunny Lisbon.
The first time Gil came to Lisbon Investment Summit was a random accident, but a fortuitous one: he ended up meeting a founder of a company that became an angel investment. “I hope it’s the first of many” he added.
For startups hoping to get this type of luck and casually meet an investor at #LIS, or startups applying to compete on stage at the pitch competition, Gil suggests they think global: “Remember that every stage is a global stage. There really is no such thing as a “local” startup or startup hub.”
Thinking global is also one of the reasons Gil believes are in the growth of Lisbon as a startup hub, able to attract investment from around the world:
It’s increasingly clear that technology is a global business – and that great innovation can come from anywhere. It’s also clear that Lisbon has a strong and growing track record of producing companies with global significance.
Gil Dibner will be at Lisbon Investment Summit, an informal event that gathers the most innovative startups, seasoned investors and daring corporate innovators, happening in Lisbon on June 6th and 7th. Get tickets here.
António Carvalho started his work in innovation when he joined Portugal Ventures – he is now leading Bluetech, the first Blue Economy accelerator backed by the Portuguese Ministry of the Sea.
With a background on Corporate Finance & Management, António first came in contact with innovation projects when he joined Portugal Ventures in 2012. Joining this ambitious project that aimed to launch a Startups ecosystem in Portugal that barely existed at that time, is still something he is proud of.
When he joined Beta-i, back in 2017, he took on the challenge of launching The Journey, an open-innovation program tackling the challenges of tourism, as he believed that innovating is the only way the main Tourism and Travel players can be consistently on the lead of the industry.
I’m one of those who believes Portugal can do way more to take advantage of its vast maritime border, so when the opportunity to launch a program in this field arrived, I just couldn’t say no.
When he was challenged to direct Bluetech program, he took the challenge head-on, as he believes there’s so much Portugal can do with its coast. Bluetech accelerator is an initiative of the Portuguese Ministry of the Sea and Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento (FLAD). They aligned the Portuguese Ocean Industry strategy with the interests of the six corporate partners. Which resulted in the definition of the challenges affecting Ports & Shipping 4.0 – which is the program’s first vertical. These challenges go from for Ports activity, Shipping operations and the Digital areas that connect both.
“After the needs assessment meetings with the corporate partners, four main challenges were defined: Process Optimization in Port Hinterland, which includes the concept of extended gateways, data analytics for complete vessel situational awareness and security profiling illicit activity at sea, etc; Cargo and Fleet Performance Management, which includes use of data to upgrade efficiency, use of digital twins, and product innovation; Future Shipping connectivity, which includes enabling ports to be connected and linked and creating new marketplaces; and Environmental Sustainability, challenging to reduce the environmental footprint of ports and vessels.”
Keeping these challenges in mind, the maritime industry is poised for change, and “Bluetech Accelerator can really change the industry by leveraging ocean science and R&D services for generating innovation and entrepreneurship. We can use ports as acceleration platforms for developing ocean advanced industries, integrated into global value chains, thus transforming the value matrix of Portugal’s ocean economy – and ultimately have an impact on the Portuguese economy.”
António believes that an open innovation program like this it the right way to kickstart this change, as it brings added value to all the intervenients: “The corporate partners are able to tap into the global source of innovation in their specific sector and test new disruptive solutions in collaboration with startups and other program partners. We’re actually seeing a budding capacity between the corporate partners themselves, using the program’s key moments to discuss the major innovation trends of the industry. As for startups, they get access to a group of experienced industry players, typically hard to reach, and the potential to test a solution with them and eventually get a partner that can give them easy access to the market and jumpstart their growth.”
It’s a huge opportunity for business – Ocean amounts for 97% of Portugal’s territory but only 3,1% of the gross value added
Startups, “who are looking forward to validating their product, experiment their product or solution with a big player of the industry and make it resonate with clients, it’s a huge opportunity – not only the program that allows them to strike a deal with a big client, that may get them access to a larger market, but the industry itself, as Venture Capital funds are investing heavily in Ports, Shipping and Logistics Digital startups – shipping and logistics startups focused on digital technology have risen $3.3 billion from January 2012 to September 2017.”
Portugal’s strategic guidelines will play into this investment boom, with a focus on strengthening traditional ocean economic activities (fishing, aquaculture and maritime transport), empowering emerging economic activities (like deep sea mining, biotechnology and ocean energy) and maximising Atlantic geostrategic centrality of the Portuguese Maritime space, in particular its deep and ultra-deep environments.
“It’s a huge opportunity for business – Ocean amounts for 97% of Portugal’s territory but only 3,1% of the gross value added”, concludes António.
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