By Steve May-Russell, CEO at Smallfry

Investors don’t speak the language your peers do, so how can you ensure they recognise the value in your groundbreaking proposition?

2 questions, 1 answer: Design process.

What is it?

Regardless of the project or its sector, the fundamentals of Smallfry’s design methodology remain the same; an iterative approach that prioritises the needs and desires of users and stakeholders throughout the development process. An essential tool to this user-centred approach is the production of tailored visuals to clearly communicate your idea in a familiar language.

Why do it?

• Gain invaluable insights by communicating your idea in the right language
• Make informed design decisions driven by real-world insights
• Avoid unproductive user feedback that results from proof-of-concepts with unfinished elements that they cannot overlook
• Let stakeholders see the same vision you see, not just where you are now
• Visualise the future of your idea, something investors can confidently buy into

Design the right vision

Ever tried to gain insights from your potential users but they cannot help but be distracted by the unfinished nature of a prototype? The development process would be so much simpler if you could just transfer what you see in your head into your stakeholders’.

Our diverse team with backgrounds in psychology are able to involve users and stakeholders at every stage from front-end research to concept visualisation to working prototypes to both inform and validate design decisions. By creating intentional and focussed visuals and prototypes, we gain the insights you need at the right time. Design redirections and refinements are made with confidence and ultimately ensure that the end result, while it might not quite be the one originally imagined, is the right one.

“Everything we have learned we would not have learned without Smallfry’s design process and visuals.” – Magdalena Karlikowska, CEO at Cytecom.

Design the right pitch

Putting together a comprehensive business proposition is not easy. Rather than adding another opinion to an already oversaturated library of advice, let’s focus on one aspect that is often left off the checklists, but will set you apart in the eyes of investors… visuals.

Pitch decks are innately visual. However, it is a specific type of visual that is crucial to a compelling value proposition that will set you apart from your competitors. Investors are interested in the future, not the now, which is why you focus on projected financials, not the current ones. Your product should be no different. A pitch is intended to sell the potential of your project – what the future could be if your idea becomes a reality. So, what better way to communicate that than an aspirational visualisation of exactly what that product could be? By making your idea tangible, you make it believable.

A picture might paint a thousand words, but you have already detailed far more than that in your business case, so why does that matter? The more important question is: which is more memorable, 1000 words… or a picture?