One question I hear a good bit from software entrepreneurs building their first product is “Who made your user interface?” There’s a dearth of quality user interface (UI) and user experience people, especially in markets like Atlanta. Many people think they can get their graphic designer friend that made the company logo to also do the user interface. I’ve gone down that route and it failed.
My recommendation is the classic R&D — ripoff and duplicate — of a major product where the company likes to have apps that have a consistent user experience with their app. That’s right, please don’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to the user interface. Companies like Google, Apple, and Microsoft have invested millions in the UI for their different products. For example, Gmail, Google Analytics, and Google AdWords have nice clean and fast UIs that are perfect for most B2B web apps.
What else? Do you agree or disagree that most people shouldn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to UIs?
David Cummings on Startups 