UX Design for Startups: Problem-Solving or Problem-Preventing? – Entrepreneur's Handbook

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Nicole Gallardo
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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.
So when a company that Forbes had just named the ‘fastest growing company ever’ wanted to sell my shoes in 3 major cities right out of the gate, I jumped at the chance. I am embarrassed to admit that I barely skimmed the contracts before signing them.
Thankfully, I didn’t accidentally promise to sell my firstborn child.
All I could think about was, “My company is going to scale, big time. I am going to be able to quit my day job soon and make a TON of money living the dream life as a successful founder.”
The company that gave me this first big break was Groupon.
Those of you who know Groupon may have heard how they make their money (or at least how they did back when they were in their prime). They make businesses cut their prices by at least 50%. And then they take 50% of the sale. So sellers only receive 25% of the actual product price (at best). Since my shoes were one of a kind and handmade in the US, this meant I would be paying for each pair of…
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Founder & Chief Design Officer at Founders Who UX | Published in Entrepreneur's Handbook, UX of EdTech, & UX Collective
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