User Research Hacks for Cash-Strapped Founders from Els Aerts 

At How To Web Conference, the discussions peak during the Q&A sessions, where real challenges meet practical expertise. This was especially true during the session with Els Aerts, which tackled some of the most pressing questions startup founders ask themselves: How do I conduct effective user research? How do I validate my unique selling proposition (USP) or ideal customer profile (ICP)? And most importantly, how can I adapt quickly to drive sales?

We all know by now that understanding your customers can make the difference between success and failure. But how do you approach user research when you’re just starting, with limited resources and possibly even limited knowledge about your ideal customers? Let’s dive into practical approaches to user research that won’t drain your resources but will generate valuable insights.

Finding Your Product-Market Fit When Your Customer Base is Still a Mystery

For startup founders who are still figuring out their buying personas or ideal customer profiles, the journey begins with a fundamental question: Is the product you’re building relevant to your intended audience?

Before diving into detailed user testing, you need to establish if there’s a market for your product. If you’re creating something that already exists, you at least know there’s a market—which makes things both easier (there’s proven demand) and harder (you have competition).

The key question then becomes: Why would customers buy from you and not your competitors?

Ditch the Surveys: Why Customer Conversations Drive Better Product Development

When you’re just starting and don’t have a large user base to survey, interviews are your best resource. Talk to as many potential customers as possible—people who represent the audience you want to reach.

But here’s the crucial part many founders miss: “Don’t ask them about your product. Instead, ask how they currently solve the problems that your product aims to address.“, Els Aerts suggests. Why? Because this approach will give you a much deeper understanding of:

• Their current workflow
• Their pain points and concerns
• What might make your solution uniquely valuable to them?

This insight is incredibly valuable because, surprisingly, many founders don’t fully understand their own products’ unique selling propositions (USPs). Often, customers see these USPs more clearly than the founders themselves. Understanding this distinction is key to effective positioning, as April Dunford has previously emphasized in her talk.

Identifying Your True Product Competitors

One common mistake is misidentifying your competition. As the expert bluntly put it, “The competitor of most software out there is Excel.”

Your job is to make clear why your solution is better than whatever customers are currently using. If your product doesn’t solve their problem better than existing solutions, you may need to rethink your approach.

A real-world example from this Q&A session highlighted how startups can lose sales by failing to position their product effectively. In a past company, a co-founder with a strong academic background told a potential customer that an open-source tool could solve their problem—effectively giving away the sale. The takeaway? Believe in your product, sell it confidently, and don’t inadvertently push potential customers to competitors.

Cost-Effective User Research Tools for Early-Stage Startups

There’s a common misconception that user research requires elaborate setups, like testing labs and extensive protocols. This isn’t necessarily true, in today’s context. Few companies still use research labs, which don’t accurately reflect customers’ natural environments anyway.

For startups with a website, a simpler, cost-effective approach includes:

1. Entry surveys on your website to determine who is visiting and why
2. Collect continuous data 
3. Use this information to fuel your optimization efforts
4. Direct interviews with potential customers
5. Exit surveys to understand why visitors don’t convert

An effective entry survey might ask:

• Who are you?
• What is the purpose of your visit today?

This basic information can tell you whether you’re attracting your intended audience. For example, if you built software for bankers but lawyers are visiting your site, that’s valuable intelligence that might suggest a pivot or a new market opportunity.

Answering Another Critical Question: Why Don’t They Buy?

If you’re struggling with conversions, focus your research on understanding why people aren’t buying. Here are practical ways to gather this information:

1. For online sales: Create an exit survey for visitors who abandon the checkout process or quote request page. Ask directly: “What’s holding you back from making a decision today?”
2. If you have a sales team: Have them dig deeper with prospects who don’t convert. Move beyond the sales pitch and focus on understanding the customer’s problem more thoroughly.

‘Prioritize Problems Closest to the Money’

Once you have identified several issues, how do you decide which to address first? A good rule of thumb is to “solve the problems where you’re closest to the money first“.

For example, people who abandon your checkout process are literally at the doorstep of giving you money. Any improvements there will directly impact your bottom line.

The process should be:

1. List all the problems identified.
2. Determine which are easiest to experiment with
3. Start with solutions that require minimal effort.

MVP Testing Strategies: Validating Solutions Without Draining Resources

One of the most powerful insights from experienced conversion optimizers is that simple changes often yield the biggest results. 

For example, in a real case study with Yoast, adding just three lines of clarifying copy to a checkout page dramatically improved conversions. Copy is one of the most persuasive elements in sales, often outperforming superficial design tweaks like changing button colors.

Start Small and Iterate

Before investing heavily in any solution:

• Ask how you can solve the problem in a cheaper way.
• Consider creating a low-fidelity version first.
• Test a minimal implementation before fully committing.

For example, if customers want a demo, don’t spend months building a polished video. Instead, start with a simple landing page explanation or a low-fidelity video demo.

The A/B Testing Trap: When Data-Driven Product Decisions Actually Waste Money

Many startups feel pressured to implement sophisticated A/B testing too early. The hard truth: “Don’t invest in A/B testing tools or processes when you don’t have sufficient traffic volume. It’s simply not worth the investment.”

“Before-and-after measurements may be statistically flawed, but they’re often all you have. Use them to experiment, observe whether you see meaningful shifts, and then decide whether to proceed further or pivot.”, Els adds.

For early-stage startups, before-and-after comparisons are the best available tool. Use them wisely to guide decision-making without over-investing in unnecessary processes.

Low-Hanging Fruit: Simple Product Changes That Dramatically Boost Conversions

User research doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. Startups can achieve growth without substantial investment by prioritizing revenue-generating issues, addressing them with straightforward solutions and concentrating on key questions to gain valuable insights.

Remember that the goal isn’t perfect research; it’s gathering enough information to make better decisions than your competitors. Start small, stay focused on customer problems, and keep the lines of communication open. Your customers have the answers you need—you just have to ask the right questions.

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