Insights Unlocked: UX for Startups – MVP Tips and Common Design Mistakes
Episode Release Date: July 28, 2025
Host: UserTesting’s Mike McDowell and Nathan Isaacs
Guest: Oksana Kovalchek, UX Expert, Startup Advisor, CEO of Onada
Introduction
In the July 28, 2025 episode of Insights Unlocked, hosts Mike McDowell and Nathan Isaacs engage in a deep dive with Oksana Kovalchek, a seasoned UX expert and startup advisor. The conversation centers around the critical role of user experience (UX) in early-stage startups, focusing on building Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), avoiding common UX pitfalls, and fostering a collaborative team environment from the outset.
Guest Background
Oksana Kovalchek brings two decades of software development experience to the table. She began her journey at the age of 14 and has been passionate about technology since childhood. As the CEO and co-founder of Onada, a design-driven development agency, Oksana has collaborated with global clients and served as a consultant for reputable organizations like Techstars, the United Nations, and various startup accelerators.
“I have around 20 years of software development experience... driving to help our clients to help people who struggling with bad user experience.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [00:02]
Common UX Challenges for Early-Stage Startups
Oksana identifies two primary UX challenges faced by startups:
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Founder-Centric Design: Many founders design products based on personal preferences rather than the target audience's needs. For instance, a founder might push for a masculine design for a beauty product app, disregarding the preferences of the actual user base.
“The biggest problem they want this application love themselves like they building it for themselves. They're not thinking about target audience or anything else.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [03:29] -
Resource Constraints: Startups often operate with limited budgets (typically between $5,000 to $20,000 for design and development). This scarcity leads to complexity as founders add features without considering the cumulative impact on design and usability.
“You always will have ideas more than money to be honest. Keep it lean, keep it small, keep it accountable.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [06:23]
Building MVPs and Avoiding UX Mistakes
Oksana emphasizes the importance of maintaining focus during the MVP phase. Startups should prioritize essential features that deliver core value to users rather than overloading the product with numerous functionalities.
“Just put in a single button or one single menu it affect dozens of screens and it will be significant change.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [03:29]
She advises startups to adopt design systems to expedite the design process and avoid unnecessary expenditures on logos or branding materials at the MVP stage.
“Let's use design systems. It has its own limitations... It's enough for you to solve the problem.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [07:54]
Balancing Speed and UX Quality
When operating under tight deadlines and budgets, startups must strike a balance between rapid development and maintaining UX quality. Oksana suggests:
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Focusing on User Flow: Ensuring that users can navigate the application seamlessly without encountering obstacles.
“Start with user flow. It's the cheapest stage of user experience.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [20:42] -
Iterative Development: Embracing the "fail fast, move fast" philosophy to incorporate user feedback and make necessary adjustments swiftly.
“If you fail fast, move fast, you failed okay, grab the feedback, do something with it iterate.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [06:23]
Importance of User Feedback and Testing
Oksana underscores the necessity of integrating user feedback early and often. She highlights techniques such as backlog grooming and user testing to refine the MVP and ensure it resonates with the target audience.
“You have to pick and choose what you're going to do... put everything like you're not a God, you're not a very Spiritual person to guess for 100%.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [06:23]
She recounts a case where a fintech startup faced a 98% drop-off rate during user onboarding due to intrusive data collection on the first screen. By addressing trust issues and simplifying the onboarding process, the startup could significantly improve user retention.
“Do not ask anything from your users while you didn't build trust... ask any required information step by step.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [17:00]
The Use of AI in UX Practices
The discussion shifts to the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in enhancing UX. Oksana acknowledges AI's utility in translating visionary ideas into technical requirements and streamlining the design process. However, she cautions against over-reliance on AI, emphasizing the necessity of human creativity and critical thinking.
“AI really helps to build in the requirements list... but the biggest downsides what I see, it's a creative limitations.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [22:47]
She shares an anecdote about a potential client overly depending on AI (e.g., ChatGPT) for design decisions, highlighting the importance of human oversight to ensure relevance and creativity.
“You need to filter all that information that ChatGPT gives... can't understand what exactly the wipe was on the screen.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [25:34]
Metrics for Tracking UX Success
Oksana discusses various metrics essential for evaluating UX effectiveness, tailored to the application's nature:
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B2B Software: Metrics include the number of support tickets and the length of the sales cycle. Improved UX often leads to a shorter sales cycle and fewer support requests.
“If software like just ugly to be honest. If it's like doesn't feel usable. The sales cycle and the salesperson need to negotiate like weeks, months.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [26:41] -
Client-Facing Applications: Focus on support ticket volume and the nature of user inquiries. High volumes of feature requests or usability issues indicate areas needing improvement.
“We usually like measure our UX with these metrics... if user can't find the function... then we have a problem.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [26:41] -
Time to Value: Measures how quickly users derive meaningful benefits from the application. Delays in value realization can lead to user abandonment.
“Understand time to value in your application. How long does it take for people to get true value using it because they're going to abandon.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [29:05]
Team Dynamics: Founders, Designers, Engineers
Oksana addresses the interplay between founders, designers, and engineers, highlighting common conflicts and strategies to foster collaboration:
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Shared Responsibility: UX should not be confined to designers alone. Project managers and developers must actively contribute to enhancing the user experience.
“UX is not only one single responsibility of the designers... developers need to connect to this process.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [30:18] -
Avoiding Silos: Encouraging cross-functional communication to prevent misunderstandings and ensure cohesive product development.
“Connect the team for the user experience, engineers for the designers. It's really important to start thinking about application on the UX stage.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [35:27] -
Cost of Fixing UX Issues: Highlighting how early-stage UX decisions are cost-effective compared to fixes later in the development cycle.
“When we shaping the requirements, cost of mistake... less than $0.01. When we do wireframe, 10 $20 up to $50... development we're talking about thousands.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [35:27]
Key Takeaways
- Prioritize User-Centric Design: Founders must design with their target audience in mind, not personal preferences.
- Focus on Essential Features: Keep MVPs lean to manage resources effectively and reduce complexity.
- Leverage Design Systems: Utilize existing design frameworks to expedite development without compromising usability.
- Embrace Iterative Development: Incorporate user feedback continuously to refine and enhance the product.
- Integrate AI Wisely: Use AI as a tool to support UX practices while maintaining human creativity and oversight.
- Measure Time to Value: Ensure users quickly realize the benefits of the application to foster retention.
- Foster Cross-Functional Collaboration: Encourage teamwork between founders, designers, and engineers to create cohesive and effective user experiences.
“You always will have more ideas than money... understand time to value in your application.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [06:23], [29:05]
Conclusion
The episode underscores the indispensable role of UX in the success of startups. By adopting a user-centric approach, maintaining focus during the MVP phase, leveraging AI judiciously, and fostering collaborative team dynamics, startups can create products that resonate with users and achieve sustained growth.
Connect with Oksana Kovalchek:
- LinkedIn: Oksana Kovalchek
- Twitter: @OksanaUX
- Email: okovalchek@onada.com
- Website: Onada UX
“Understand time to value in your application... you're not getting anyone's attention in a second.”
— Oksana Kovalchek [29:05]
This episode was brought to you by UserTesting, the leader in human insights and proactive customer experience strategies. For show notes, curated clips, and more, visit usertesting.com/podcast.