Member-only story
UX Design for Startups: Problem-Solving or Problem-Preventing?
A story of my startup failure offers a fresh perspective on how to approach problems as a founding team
In 2008, I founded my first e-commerce startup.
And it failed–epically.
I had an idea (born out of a personal want) for funky, high-quality, handmade women’s shoes that could be custom-designed online.
Instead of taking the time to do things I commonly did for the other companies I worked for — like writing a proper business strategy, conducting customer interviews to validate the idea, deep market research, and testing a prototype — I blindly dove in head first. I was SO convinced I was creating something everyone would want that I invested 10 months and most of my savings into a fully fleshed-out digital product and brand.
Then, instead of giving myself time to learn from my earliest-stage customers — what they liked and didn’t like, where they dropped off in the process, what they were willing to pay, and what they wanted from my product offering — I instead focused 100% on the solution.
I never clearly defined the problem I was solving for them.
