The Role of a Passionate Product Designer in My Start-Up
I have just finished all the tasks assigned to me before launching the landing page for my forthcoming start-up, CareScore, and I feel so relieved to have completed this task at hand.
As I am about to launch my new start-up, I started reflecting on the best thing that has happened so far and what has truly helped me get this far.
After deeply exploring the events during the development of CareScore, I thought it’s time I give credit to my product designer, Romio, who truly deserves it.
Romio is the first person to whom I owe great gratitude for helping me reach this point in my life.
If you are a founder or a product designer, reading this blog might help you understand how supportive a product designer can be and how founders can make better use of their creativity.
Learning from Experience
CareScore is my third start-up! My first product, Jiyanna Care, did not take off, but I spent about three years completing the project. To be frank, I spent a lot of energy and money building that product.
The UI work for Jiyanna Care was done by someone I met on Fiverr. I did not speak his language, and getting the UI for such a large project was challenging.
He simply agreed to whatever I asked, so you can probably imagine the losses I accrued!
The initial design of my second start-up was also done by someone on Fiverr, but by the time we were developing the dashboard, I found someone else. In total, to date, three people have been involved in the overall development.
One key area in which I struggled during my first two start-ups was that I did not have enough knowledge, and the designers I hired did not have a genuine interest in understanding what I was building.
They were more task-oriented, and I believe this is a problem for many entrepreneurs like me who rely on freelance designers.
Their lack of involvement and reliance on freelance designers had a significant impact on the development of MeetMyBrian, but I am proud that I still did okay!
Why is Romio Different?
I met Romio on Telegram after seeing one of his posts asking about any start-ups out there. I replied to him, thinking he wanted to build something and needed someone to talk to but he was looking for some work.
We had a call, and during our first conversation, he made a good impression, so I decided to give it another try, as I believed he could do the job.
Romio completed several tasks for me on ‘MeetMyBrian’. He redesigned our website and helped to improve our sign-in app, which had been struggling to reach the market due to its poor UI and UX.
However, when the Covid situation improved, demand for our service dropped. As I was working full-time, reinvesting energy and money into the project MeetMyBrian seemed daunting.
Impressed by Romio’s attention to detail and the effort he put into the design and overall quality of the product, I decided to create a prototype of a vision I had in mind: CareScore.
Fast forward to today, we are launching our MVP and starting to collect the waitlist. I feel proud and happy that my decision to work with Romio has paid off, and my intuition about him was right!
Here are some of the most admirable characteristics of Romio as a Product Designer
Some of the characteristics Romio possesses and the skills he has acquired to help those he works with have truly been beneficial for me. They all proved to be resourceful in embarking on CareScore.
Punctuality and responsibility
Romio’s respect for time is admirable! When we agree on a time, he is rarely late. If he anticipates a delay, he notifies me in advance. This sense of responsibility has influenced my own approach to time management.
Curiosity and involvement
Romio’s curiosity sets him apart. He asks many questions to understand the project thoroughly. He was heavily involved in market research, analysis, and brainstorming sessions for CareScore. His relentless desire to improve the product by asking numerous questions helped me shape and achieve my vision for CareScore.
Staying updated
Romio’s resourcefulness extends beyond his role as a product designer. He keeps himself updated about new design tools and industry changes. His knowledge of different products and solutions has helped us overcome various obstacles and boost productivity in product development.
Education and guidance
Romio’s patience and willingness to explain things, no matter how many times you ask, is awesome. He presents multiple options, warns of potential pitfalls, but ultimately respects my final decision. I have learned many things from him, which I consider assets in my journey as a founder, and I am still learning.
Pushing boundaries
Romio understands me as a person, the challenges entrepreneurs face, and can differentiate between facing hardship or procrastinating. His proactive approach and insistence on timely completion accelerated CareScore’s development. Documenting our journey led to the ‘CareScore’ Blog, now one of the best things I have done in my start-up.
Healthy arguments
Romio challenges my hypotheses if they lack evidence. His insistence on validation, though initially frustrating, has led to mutually agreed solutions. These healthy arguments have enhanced our understanding of the issues in developing and implementing CareScore. He exercises autonomy with conviction, supported by healthy arguments.
Plan, Act, and Iterate
Working with Romio improved my planning and action-taking abilities. He supports Jeff Bezos’s 70% rule, which advocates making decisions with 70% of the necessary information. Romio often reminded me to move faster during CareScore’s development, reassuring me that we can iterate when we find better ways, but taking steps is crucial.
Intention to reduce cost
Knowing that spending money carelessly would not work well in a business, especially when bootstrapping a start-up, Romio set up different Google Sheets for cash flow and expenses. This ensured I did not lose money unnecessarily. His advice and reminders regarding expenses have been positive and encouraging. My wild guess is that I have saved at least 30% in my journey compared to doing it on my own without Romio.
Are you a product designer?
If you are a product designer, I would advise against treating your role as just a job. If you do, your chances for growth might be limited. Try to grasp what the founder is truly trying to achieve and develop a mentality to do whatever it takes to help.
As founders, help is what we need the most!
By closely working with Romio on CareScore has proven to me that collaboration, open communication, and genuine investment in a project can lead to extraordinary results and long-lasting partnerships.
