UI/UX Design Prior to Launch - waste of money or a smart move?

If a product is fundamentally useful, customers won't care about a fancy UI/UX, a clean, basic interface will do.

I'd rather use the funds for marketing.

I'd definitely consider it, but there's a balance to strike in terms of how far you take UI/UX. You don't want to dwell and over-invest resources on the look and feel for too long because you'll undoubtedly keep finding ways you can improve. But I do think visuals and ease of use go a long way.

I agree that UI/UX input and having a polished-looking product and website is important. However, spending $30k on initial design sounds like a ton, especially if you are bootstrapping. If your UX is somewhat okay, you can find someone who helps with the visual design for less than $500 (I spent less than $100). If you need more (like UI & maybe UX design), then it might go up to $1-2k if you e.g. find someone on Upwork.

I'm obviously biased as a designer, so I feel that having a well thought out UI and user experience is well worth the investment. At the same time, I understand that comes at a cost.

What also comes at a cost is having a poor user experience, as this can completely turn off your users, and even if your product is useful, they won't use it.

A good middle ground, that I would absolutely suggest as it would be far more affordable, is to have an experience designer review and provide feedback on your product. They can give you advice on steps you can take to improve the user experience for your initial launch.

I might be biased as I'm a designer myself. As apparently you too @Vic_Stets :)

For me, good design inspires also the quality and care for your product. And thus your customers.
Would you as a customer spend your hard-earned money on something that looks like a generic template done in 5 minutes? Especially monthly.

Design might not be as important as some entitled designers consider (unless you lack common sense in terms of UX) but it sure is major in product development and growth/marketing.

Congrats to your friends! It's a bold move, but investing in design can pay off in user satisfaction and retention.

good

I think it totally depends.

If you have a $100k budget dropping $30k on something that may or may not be cash flow positive is insanity

If you have a $multimillions in capital then 100% it is worth it user experience is arguably the most important thing along with marketing

The answer I give clients:

It depends.

If you have cash and want to come out of the gate looking good, awesome. It will help you legitimize your brand and mitigate against users thinking your project is a scam. I would not advocate for going into debt over an idea that hasn't been validated.

No cash? Work with what you've got, with where you're at, right now.

Once you get a couple users, pour gasoline on the fire. Specifically, beef up your brand, and improve the experience.

Nothing wrong with asking for leased creative work, payment plans, or equity from your designer either 🤘

It’s worth looking sharp, whether that’s through templates, learning resources, or hiring a designer.

If hiring a designer for your startup, you can stay small and design only the branding guidelines and landing page. That way, you can carry some of that styling through the rest of your site, even if you can’t afford to have every page designed.

UI Design is a craft, but with three months of practice you’ll be making pages that look better than bootstrap.

I’m making an app for designers, so not having a design is not an option.