andy brudtkuhl

User Interface and Experience Counts:  If you’re used to selling client-server enterprise software that was installed on premises, there’s a chance that you didn’t think that much about UI and UX. You were focused on other things (like customization, rules engines and remote troubleshooting).  That was mostly OK, because on average, the UI/UX of most of the other applications that were running on user desktops at the enterprise sucked too.  So, when you got compared against the other Windows client-server apps, you didn’t fare too badly.  In the SaaS world, everything is running in a browser.  Now, the applications you are getting compared to are ones where someone likely spent some time thinking about UI/UX.  Including those slick consumer apps.  You’re going to need to step it up.  In this world, design matters much more.  Further, as noted in #2 above, success in SaaS is not just about selling customers, it’s also about retaining them.  If your user experience makes people want to pull their hair out and run out of the room screaming, there’s a decent chance that your cancellation rate is going to be higher than you want.  High cancellation rates kill SaaS startups.

Quick tip:  Start recruiting great design and user experience talent now.  They’re in-demand and hard to find, so it might take a while.

A couple days ago I discussed the market in Des Moines, IA for User Interface designers compared to the coasts. In short - the position does not exist here.

I thought it was worth pointing out that Dharmesh Shah - founder of Hubspot, the fastest growing B2B SaaS startup since Salesforce.com - places such high importance on the UI.

If users don't know how to use your application, they won't.