What I learnt being a founding designer at a high growth startup

What I learnt being a founding designer at a high growth startup

6 min read

|

March, 27th 2024

6 min read

|

March, 27th 2024

Introduction

The day I landed a job as a founding designer was probably one of the most exciting days of my adult life, I was thrilled to move to Bangalore and get a taste of the startup life. What I didn’t realise was just how transformative this journey would be, both professionally and personally. Navigating the exciting (sometimes chaotic) world of startups I’ve learnt some invaluable lessons. In this blogpost I’ll be sharing my experience and learnings, hoping it might help fellow designers embarking on similar paths.


The early days

Building from Scratch

Although I wasn’t exactly building from scratch as Osfin.ai (they were called Beeworks back then) already had a product which they wanted to rebuild. I have no shame in admitting that in the initial months of my job I wasn’t exactly the best designer because I failed to understand the nuances of the product (it was a fairly complex product) and the vision of the founders. After a few months when I started to get a hang of things I realised I should have spent more time building a deeper understanding of the product instead of diving into creating “boxes” on Figma.

Establishing the Design Vision

Setting a clear design foundation early on is crucial for every startup. One thing I would like to tell all young designers reading this is that you should always keep the developers in mind when designing because its easy to get lost in building beautiful frames in Figma but its wasted effort if its not feasible. A mistake I made in the initial days was to try and build a design system from scratch which is both design and dev intensive instead what I should have done is use an existing library like Tailwind, Ant, etc. This would have made development a lot faster. 

Collaboration with Founders and Team

One of the most valuable aspects of being a founding designer was the close collaboration with the founders. Understanding their vision for the product and the company helped me a lot in setting up design foundations. Constant feedback was key to make sure that we were solving real problems.


Scaling Design as the Startup Grows

Adapting to Rapid Change

As we began to scale, the pace of change accelerated. New features, user feedback, and market demands required continuous adaptation. If you are planning to join a startup you need to get comfortable with building multiple iterations and rapid prototyping. Learn as many Figma shortcuts as you can, this you save a lot of time and effort during the collaborative design sessions.

Building a Design Team

Although I was the only designer there for more than a year I soon realised that building a design system that is easy to use and understand for any new designer that joins the team. This would help the new designers start solving problems asap rather than spending time understanding our design language. My advice to anyone joining a startup as a founding designer would be to always operate under the impression that within the next few months a new designer will join you and you will need to explain all your design libraries to him/her.

Maintaining Design Consistency

Building a robust design library with a comprehensive style guide will also help in maintaining a strong brand identity as the company scales and new designers join the team. It will also help developers build components and reuse them. This system will ensure that despite the rapid changes and additions, the product will retain a consistent look and feel. Keep updating the design library as you progress based on the design reviews.


Overcoming Challenges

Balancing Speed and Quality

One of the hardest balances to strike was between speed and quality. The high-growth environment demanded rapid delivery, but cutting corners can compromise the user experience. I learned to prioritise features based on user impact and business goals, often releasing products asap and iterating based on real-world use.

Handling Feedback and Iteration

When you’re working with an early stage startup feedback will come from all directions—users, stakeholders, team members. It is crucial that you learn to filter and prioritise this feedback. I tried to establish a feedback loop where all major design decisions were reviewed by all the stakeholders before pushing it to the developers. Rapid prototyping helps a lot in gathering feedback as the stakeholders could get a feel of the product.


Key Learnings and Takeaways

Embrace Flexibility

Be ready to adapt and pivot. The startup landscape is ever-changing, and flexibility is crucial.

Understand the product and the user

As simple as it may sound it is definitely the most important advice for young designers

Collaborative Culture

Foster a culture of collaboration. Great designs come from diverse inputs.

Iterative Process

Don’t aim for perfection on the first go. Release, learn, and iterate. 

Build for Scalability

Think ahead. Design systems and processes that can scale with your product and team.


Conclusion

Reflecting on my journey, I’m grateful for these experiences that have shaped me as a designer. The challenges and triumphs of working at a high-growth startup have not only honed my skills but also deepened my understanding of the product and user-centric design. As I look ahead, I’m excited about the future possibilities and eager to continue evolving in this dynamic field.

I encourage you to share your experiences, ask questions, and connect with me on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more articles where I’ll dive deeper into specific aspects of being a designer. Thank you for reading!

by

Mihir Salokhe

I hope you liked what you saw :)

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Have a project in mind? Book a quick chat to see how I can help bring your ideas to life.

Made by Mihir Salokhe

I hope you liked what you saw :)

Let’s create something together

Have a project in mind? Book a quick chat to see how I can help bring your ideas to life.

Made by Mihir Salokhe

I hope you liked what you saw :)

Let’s create something together

Have a project in mind? Book a quick chat to see how I can help bring your ideas to life.

Made by Mihir Salokhe