SheStartup: Supporting Women on Their Entrepreneurial Journey
Empowering Millennial and Gen X Women Entrepreneurs
Millions of women dream of starting their own businesses. They have the passion, the vision, and the drive—but too often, they face the same struggle: finding the guidance and support they need to bring those dreams to life. With this challenge in mind, SheStartup was developed as a digital platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs. By providing mentorship, community support, and resources tailored to their unique challenges, SheStartup aims to break down the barriers that women face in their entrepreneurial journey.
Understanding the Problem
Women entrepreneurs, particularly those from Gen X and Millennial generations, face significant and unique challenges that hinder their ability to start and scale businesses. Despite their passion and drive, they encounter obstacles such as limited access to venture capital, insufficient mentorship tailored to their needs, and the burden of balancing family responsibilities with entrepreneurial aspirations. Traditional entrepreneurial support systems often fail to address these specific challenges, leaving a gap in the market for a solution that truly empowers women to succeed.
SheStartup was conceived to bridge this gap by offering a digital platform that provides personalized mentorship, a supportive community, and tailored resources. By leveraging technology and focusing on the unique needs of women entrepreneurs, SheStartup aims to create an environment where women can overcome these barriers, access the support they need, and thrive in their entrepreneurial journeys.
Primary and Secondary Research: Laying the Foundation
To ensure SheStartup would effectively meet the needs of the target users, extensive primary and secondary research was conducted. The primary research involved 9 in-depth interviews with women entrepreneurs and a survey with 54 respondents from Gen X and Millennial cohorts. These conversations and data points provided insights into the real-world challenges faced by the target users.
Secondary research provided a broader context, revealing industry trends and gaps in existing solutions. Reports on women in entrepreneurship, venture capital distribution, and the effectiveness of existing platforms were examined. This comprehensive approach helped identify the common challenges and the nuanced needs of women entrepreneurs.
Understanding the Users: Mindsets
Two key mindsets among users were identified—First-Time Leaders and Starting Solo.
First-Time Leaders
Ready but Uncertain: Eager to start but unsure where to begin.
Financial Independence: Motivated by the desire for financial control.
Community Builders: Focused on creating a supportive work environment.
Starting Solo
Passion with a Need for Guidance: Driven by passion but seek mentorship for business challenges.
Desire for Control: Value autonomy in decision-making, finding it both empowering and daunting.
Aspiration to Be Their Own Boss: Motivated by the freedom to manage their own business and align with personal values.
Empathy Maps
To gain a deeper understanding of the mindset of a first-time leader and Starting Solo, empathy maps were developed, capturing their thoughts, feelings, and actions.
First-Time Leaders Empathy Map
Starting Solo Empathy Map
Key Insights
Craving Autonomy: Many women desire independence but lack the necessary know-how to start and manage a business.
Need for Mentorship: Women believe they would benefit significantly from mentors who not only guide them through the complexities of entrepreneurship but also share similar experiences and understand their unique challenges.
Seeking Community: Women entrepreneurs want to connect with others who share similar challenges and can offer support.
Triggered by Events: Many women are motivated to start businesses by encouragement from loved ones or significant life events.
Solution
Based on the key insights, SheStartup was designed to provide entrepreneurs with the mentorship and business knowledge they need to succeed.
Key Features:
Mentorship Matching: A personalized system that connects users with experienced mentors who can provide practical advice and support, helping them overcome challenges and gain confidence.
Learning Modules: A series of structured, easy-to-understand learning modules that cover the basics of running a business, including topics like business planning, financial management, marketing, and operations.
Co-Creation Workshop: User Priorities
In a Co-Creation Workshop with six women entrepreneurs, participants were asked to allocate a hypothetical budget to the features they valued most.
Key Outcomes
Mentorship was the highest priority, with participants eager for personalized guidance.
Customized Learning emerged as a key need, with a strong interest in AI-driven features to tailor learning experiences.
Community Engagement was a major focus, as users wanted an in-app space to connect, exchange insights, and support each other.
Initial Concepts
The design process began with brainstorming sessions and hand-drawn wireframes to explore different ways to address the key needs of entrepreneurs, particularly around mentoring and business learning.
Prototyping and Testing
Based on the initial hand-drawn wireframes, low-fidelity digital wireframes were created and tested with users to gather feedback.
The feedback from these sessions informed several rounds of iteration, leading to more detailed wireframes and prototypes
Testing Results, AI Integration, and Design Iteration
After initial user testing, AI was integrated to refine key features based on user feedback, enhancing the platform’s personalization and usability.
Final Design and Impact
The final design of SheStartup translates user insights into a clean, intuitive interface, with a focus on personalized mentorship and tailored learning paths.
Users have praised the platform for its ease of use and the effectiveness of its AI-driven mentor matching, leading to higher satisfaction and engagement.
Reflection and Learnings
Working on this project highlighted the importance of early user involvement, with the co-creation workshop being crucial for understanding user needs. Collaborating with a remote, diverse team brought valuable perspectives and underscored the need for effective communication and adaptability to maintain alignment across distances.
I would also like to acknowledge Gabriella Campagna Lanning (Gabi), Senior UX Researcher at Google, for her invaluable guidance in refining the approach to user research, understanding user mindsets, and user testing. Her insights during these key stages of the project elevated our ability to create a product that truly resonates with its users.
My Role: UX Designer and Design Strategist
10-week project • Conducted market analysis, research, user interviews, and surveys. Generated insights, facilitated workshops, developed wireframes, prototypes, and presentations, conducted user testing, and designed the process book.
SheStartup Innovation Journey
Explore the complete development process from concept to design.