7 design mistakes most founders make

Jaded with our corporate gigs for years, my husband and I started our very own product design studio https://www.bayzil.com/ with our designer-writer dream team!

Eight years later, it's still just the two of us, enjoying the freedom that entrepreneurship brings and feeling proud that our work has helped founders raise capital from the likes of Sequoia and YC. Along the way, we've learned a few things.

Here are the 7 biggest mistakes founders tend to make when it comes to product design:

More attention on visuals, less on messaging

A clear value proposition is super important, everyone knows that. But when the design is in front of you, it’s easy to remark on the choice of colors 🎨, icons, and button size instead of nailing a clear messaging.

I’m surprised at the disproportionate amount of time the visuals receive over copy during design feedback sessions.

As a founder, focus on whether your core functionality is shining out or not in your product or website. Leave the visual appeal to the designer.

Direction change after every investor/stakeholder meeting

Pivoting based on real user data is one thing. Getting out of each meeting room with a change in direction is another.

We have seen founders transform their ideal customer profile, even core offerings without any solid evidence, just because of a random remark from an external party.

I always admire founders with clarity. Until the market proves otherwise, stick to your guts.

That said, don’t try to force-fit your assumptions. There is a fine balance.

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Force fitting research data to match your assumptions

I was in the room with a founder who was planning on building a mobile banking app. He was excited to interview potential users for understanding user needs. So he called an employee’s son who was hanging out in the lobby right outside.

The teenage dude came in reluctantly and the conversation went on something like this:

Founder: So which banking app do you use?

Teenager: I don’t use a banking app.

Founder: Which bank do you use?

Teenager: I don’t use a bank. My dad uses XX bank.

Founder: So when you grow up and use a bank and an app for that, which one do you think you’ll use? 🤪

Teenager: Umm….probably same as my dad’s.

Sometimes, founders get so carried away with their assumptions that they don’t realize how biased they are. Framing of survey questions, user interviews, everything happens to prove a point, your point.

My advice — No research is better than bad research.

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Over-reliance on initial research

User research is fair and all but there are things you’ll discover only after you launch.

One of our founders we met was in the ‘user research’ phase for two years when we met them!! And they wanted to hire us for creating their ideal customer profiles. That too, 6 of them!

If it starts to feel like one customer profile won’t cut it, it’s a sign you are in ‘too much motion, no action’ mode.

As for that founder, he never launched.

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Fearing the less

It’s been said over and over — less is more. We still get across founders who don’t like the design with a lot of ‘blank’ space. Example concerns: It looks more like a wireframe, It’s too minimal, Add more things on the home screen, User will find it boring, etc.

What’s more likely: The user clicking something because there are 10 things on a crowded screen vs. the user picking one of the only 3 options?

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Looking at design to be the lone differentiator

The ‘wow’ factor from design can boost your visits and downloads but it’s rarely enough to sustain your business in the long term. Focus on differentiators based on unique offering, functionality, or pricing.

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Making logo a BIG deal

No matter what the overpriced branding agencies say, your logo will NOT make or break your product.

Spending weeks and $$$ on logo design is a total waste of time and money until you become a tech giant. Until then, just spell out your product in Bodoni or Proxima Nova and you’re good to go.

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Hope these help some of you out there. Would love to know what you think of these or if there are other things that I missed.

All the very best with your product journey 🙌