Case study

Barcelona Activa - UX Lab

Client

Barcelona Activa

Services

Digital Experience & Innovation

Industry

Startups

Context

The goals, understanding of their audience, and project management for a startup differ from those of a large, established company.

In Barcelona, the city council has promoted the local development agency called Barcelona Activa and created the UX Lab with the goal of boosting the city's startup ecosystem through capacity building in User Experience.

UX Lab in Numbers

This UX innovation lab has supported and helped numerous startups since its recent inception, including well-established names like Glovo, Holaluz, Heura, or Privalia.

Quality of service
received

9.8

Recommendation to
other startups

Satisfaction over
initial expectations

9.7

Challenge

The challenge of this UX innovation lab by Barcelona Activa mainly lies in:

Raising Awareness

Raising awareness among these new companies of the importance of User Experience.

Increasing Success

Increasing their chances of business success by offering products and services that are more adapted to their customer/user.

Writing and Accessibility

Focusing on more specific aspects within UX, such as Writing and Accessibility.

Focus on Strategy

Drawing a strategy that can accommodate a large number of startups.

Thus, the challenge here is not directly helping the client, Barcelona Activa, but rather solving the problems of many of its clients from different business sectors (Fintech, Real Estate, Retail, Services…) with diverse challenges but a common need for UX improvement and process enhancement.

Solution

with creative and data-driven profiles, bringing extensive experience and niche-specific needs. However, we also worked with others that had very low maturity levels, completely unaware of their users or even how to analyze them. Thus, our solution focuses on:

Through the Creative Experience Design area at SATEC, we devised a strategy focused on supporting these companies, with the first step being awareness of their UX maturity level. Among the different companies we advised, some had teams with creative and data-driven profiles, bringing extensive experience and niche-specific needs. However, we also worked with others that had very low maturity levels, completely unaware of their users or even how to analyze them. Thus, our solution focuses on:

We cannot delve deeply into our advice, so we would try to conduct mentoring sessions divided into 1-hour segments.

Startups advised

+ 20

Consultations per startup

Consultation time per session

Results

The implementation of the Barcelona Activa Lab strategy, in collaboration with the Creative Experience Design area at SATEC, has yielded significant results in improving the user experience for the participating startups:

Increased UX Awareness

More than 20 startups were sensitized to the importance of user experience in business success, providing them with the necessary tools to integrate UX into their development processes.

Tangible Product Improvements

At least 75% of the participating startups reported improvements in their digital products, particularly in navigation and accessibility, resulting in a 30% increase in end-user satisfaction.

Success in UX Writing and Accessibility Strategies

The specifically designed roadmaps for UX Writing and Accessibility helped startups identify and resolve issues in communication and interaction, enhancing the clarity and effectiveness of their interfaces.

Positive Market Impact

Several of the advised startups experienced growth in their user base and customer retention, attributing these results to the improvements implemented in their UX strategies.

Promotion of Collaboration and Innovation

The lab facilitated the creation of a community of entrepreneurs and UX professionals who continue to collaborate and share knowledge, thus strengthening Barcelona’s entrepreneurial ecosystem alongside SATEC.

Program Recognition

The success of the UX Lab has led to local and international recognition, positioning Barcelona Activa as a benchmark in promoting user experience as a competitive advantage for startups, with SATEC and Digital Experience & Innovation as one of its main providers.