Digital product design flows to focus on when aiming for Series A funding
The way a digital product designer can approach your product depends on the product itself and its starting point. But there are core aspects to stick to above all.
UX research
It always begins with a discovery stage. This is where you need to leave no stone unturned to reveal how target users see and interact with your product, what they need, what other options on the market are, and how all of it aligns with your business goals.
UX research is a diverse product design service that includes surveys, user interviews, and focus groups.
You may ask: “What if I skip it and save time for more “designy” phases?” Well, I’d say that you turn against your venture. Overlooking such a basic stage exposes your product to some costly risks that can impact the next processes like a domino effect. You step into a zone of assumptions and bias with little to no data foundation under them and can deal with high numbers of churn rate, customer acquisition, and support costs.
Leveraging in-depth research, you show investors that you play no risky games and assure them their money will be put to good, but more importantly, profitable use.
Product design services for Series A funding startups
Roadmapping
What is a digital product design without a plan? Well, not a great one, that’s for sure. A roadmap is a must-have that outlines your vision, goals, and milestones for your product over a specific period of time.
It’s a solid plan of action you base on our tried and true UX research, which empowers you to make informed decisions. But at the same time, a roadmap is flexible enough to accommodate changes in user needs or market trends so that you’re ready to act or adapt.
It also serves as a robust communication tool, aligning your team, digital product designers, and developers, ensuring that everyone is on the same page and works towards the same vision.
Another superpower a roadmap has, it allows you to prioritize resources and focus on the most critical features and functionality of the product. This helps you avoid getting sidetracked and deliver your solution on time and within budget.
So, you have a plan, let’s move on to implementing it.
How to secure funding with digital product design flows
Concept design & Prototyping
The next digital product design stop is giving your product a general look and feel.
Concepts and prototypes go hand in hand as they are great for managing the creative process, defining your solution’s visual goal, and forming a basis for building the product.
These two also help you align the design choices with your business objectives, ensuring they connect with the overall strategy and vision. Plus, you get to establish a clear design direction early on, so that you avoid wasting resources on dead-end ideas, and instead focus on executing the one you aim to test with users.
Digital product design services for Series A funding startupsSpeaking of testing. Prototyping is a powerful solution that gives you a head start and empowers you to validate a product with real people before jumping into the full-scale design. And that’s our next stage.
Testing
Is your product viable or not? That is the question. The one testing and users will help you answer. By validating your solution, you get feedback from the people you aim to cater to, can refine the product, and make essential changes before launching it. Testing also allows you to reduce risks before they turn into real problems. Talk about time and costs you can save by nipping them in the bud.
Can you skip testing? Sure. But should you? It can result in a product your target audience doesn't understand. You’d need to go back to the drawing board and invest more time and resources to redo your project.
Besides, you already know that investors turn heads to startups with data-based offers, and testing is a robust way to help you provide one. This way you ensure VCs that there’s market demand for your product and that you have what it takes to meet it.