Ux-Work Related Needs in Software Startups: Diagnosis and Resolution

Abstract

User eXperience (UX) design has been considered a key aspect for software startups increasingly focused on providing more appealing solutions to their customers and end users. However, software startups generally use a limited set of UX design practices either because of unawareness of how to conduct UX design activities or because of difficulties in adapting UX design activities within their software development practices. In previous work, we uncovered 14 needs that startup professionals have concerning UX work. In this paper, we present a mixed-method study investigating whether such needs are recognized by startup professionals more widely and whether the problems related to them were resolved or still needed a solution. Our study involved a questionnairebased survey and interviews with 29 software professionals from different startups. As a result, we propose a canvas to support startups in identifying UX-work related needs and accessing guidelines to help them overcome their problems.

Keywords: user experience, Software startups, UX work, UX canvas, Mixed-method study