02 / Techstars Review
Summary
Designed a solution that enabled teams to review, organize and manage thousands of accelerator applications, ensuring the selection of top candidates.
Project
A greenfield web application fully integrated with the customer-facing product, delivering an all-in-one platform that aggregated submissions and enabled comprehensive response management through review, sorting, tracking, rating and messaging.
Role
UX/UI Design
Accessible Design
Prototyping
User Interviews
Usability Testing
Product Strategy
Impact
Launched an MVP within 3 months, boosting user efficiency by 40% and unlocking new opportunities for cross-team collaboration.
Conducted over 40 user interviews, building trust with internal teams and driving design changes that raised satisfaction by 20%.
Streamlined key workflows by consolidating 5 separate platforms into a single integrated solution, dramatically increasing productivity.
Enhanced search and filtering capabilities, enabling users to quickly locate relevant information and significantly cut down on manual search time.
Company Details
Techstars is a pre-seed investment firm that provides access to capital, mentorship and support for early-stage entrepreneurs. They help startups connect with investors, corporations and local governments to address challenges across industries. Each year, Techstars selects promising companies to participate in an intensive 3-month accelerator program, providing funding along with hands-on mentorship and access to the global Techstars network.
Techstars Review is the internal platform used to evaluate companies applying to Techstars accelerators. As part of the Application Management System (AMS), it streamlines the review process for the thousands of applications submitted through Techstars Apply, the application form startups complete to join a Techstars accelerator.
Techstars programs are intentionally small, ensuring founders receive dedicated hands-on time with the Managing Director. Each session is limited to 12 companies, yet a single cohort can attract up to XX applications. The selection process is thorough, involving an extensive interview process to carefully assemble a class of the most promising startups. For the most established and popular programs with strong track records, sorting through the influx of applications is an especially significant undertaking.
Techstars Review allows teams to identify the most qualified companies for their programs, efficiently review application responses and decide whether to advance them to the next stage. The platform captures key information and fosters collaboration by enabling teams to share promising leads. It also supports long-term engagement by tracking companies for future consideration, maintaining a detailed log of interactions to document their journey with Techstars.
Our team was tasked with building a platform to create an organized and efficient review process. The goal was to streamline application evaluations, reduce the time required and enable teams to focus more on course content and operations, ultimately delivering the best possible experience for founders.
Discovery
Our newly formed team began by meeting with stakeholders to outline technical plans and establish a roadmap. With an MVP deadline already in sight, we prioritized the most critical requirements and created a detailed timeline for the initial feature set.
The Accelerator Investments Team (AIT) described primary pain points with the current third-party platform. They mostly revolved around its limited search and filtering capabilities, essential tools for efficiently managing the large volume of applications. Additionally, a key business objective for developing an in-house platform was addressing the fragmented workflows across teams. Each group used a mix of tools including Airtable, Affinity, Google Suite, Notion, and Mixmax to manage processes and track interactions, leading to disorganized and dispersed data.
The new platform aimed to unify workflows, streamline operations and scale the review process while ensuring a consistent, high-quality experience for founders.
Product Goals
Enable teams to quickly identify promising matches and efficiently decline others
Consolidate all teams onto a single platform, eliminating the reliance on disparate tools
Centralize data collection to enhance visibility into team actions and founder interactions
Standardize processes to ensure a consistent and seamless experience for founders
Improve communication channels with founders throughout the review process
Initial Feature Set
Table: repository of applications with optimized filtering and search functionality
Company detail page: startup profiles that include a concise overview and recorded application responses
Actions: options for staging, rating and adding notes to individual startups
Bulk actions: ability to apply changes to multiple companies simultaneously
Activity log: a preserved record of all interactions and updates for future reference
In-app messaging: email capability with tracking in the activity log
Importance
The success of Techstars depends on the ability to select companies with the highest potential for success. Achieving this requires a thorough review of each team's dynamics, metrics and growth potential. It’s essential that teams can efficiently evaluate applications and avoid unintentionally overlooking strong candidates.
The difference Techstars Review makes:
A sound review process allows teams to identify their best matches more efficiently
Optimized operations support growth, enabling an increase in programs as the review process scales effectively
Sharing insights across teams increases the likelihood of surfacing high-quality candidates
Tracking past applicants ensures promising startups remain on the radar, eliminating the need to start fresh each time
A respectful and transparent process fosters trust and goodwill among founders
Quickly finalizing class selections allows teams to focus on delivering impactful program content
MVP Design
Given that the app's core functionality revolved around managing a repository of companies and providing detailed information about each, I prioritized these aspects in the first design iteration. I decided that a table would be the most appropriate pattern for the list of companies that would allow for delivery within the tight timeframe.
Initially, I considered including detailed information directly on the table page, but it quickly became evident that a dedicated page for in-depth company details was necessary. The table would display only high-level information while individual pages would house the full application responses and other details.
Recognizing the importance of enabling teams to efficiently review and take action on startups, I emphasized those interactions at the top of the company detail page. The activity log, while valuable, was positioned as secondary since not all teams would rely on this information as frequently. This approach ensured a balance between usability and prioritization of critical tasks.
MVP design for company detail page
UI Update
The initial designs for the first release of Techstars Review followed the UI patterns of other Techstars products and adhered to brand guidelines set by the marketing department. However, we quickly recognized the need for a significant update.
Collaborating with the product designer from the team behind Techstars Universe, a platform that connects entrepreneurs with investors, we developed a plan to address the most pressing issues. One core hurdle was that the Techstars brand green did not meet accessibility standards so we needed to stop using it for functional elements. Therefore, we introduced a new primary blue color that passed all contrast checkers and transitioned to using the green an accent.
Additionally, working closely with the engineering teams across our three products, we decided to adopt the MUI component library as the foundation for building our own Techstars design system. We customized it to reflect our brand and added components as necessary.
Once our design system had been implemented, we transitioned all existing screens to use those elements and started using our new brand color.
Original design
Design after UI update
The new data grid provided a significantly enhanced search capability right from the start, enabling teams to efficiently pinpoint companies from specific industries among thousands of submissions.
Additionally, it allowed for three adjustable row densities, offering flexibility tailored to different stages of the review process. In the early phases, teams could opt for a compact view to scan limited details quickly. As they narrowed down their selections, they could expand the row height to reveal more comprehensive information, making the review process both adaptable and efficient.
Iteration
Following the MVP launch and transition to design system components, our team gathered onsite to refine our roadmap and adapt to recent process shifts. Using collaborative techniques like affinity mapping, crazy 8’s and the Eisenhower Matrix, we honed in on features and improvements that would deliver the most value to users while aligning with organizational priorities.
While conducting ongoing research with the Accelerator Investments Team (AIT), I identified a common thread of feedback on the layout of the company detail page. Tasked with quickly processing applications, the teams needed key details readily accessible above the fold to minimize time spent searching. Recognizing this opportunity for enhancement, I proactively designed two alternative layouts tailored to meet their needs more effectively.
The first concept introduced a drawer layout with more visually defined sections, ensuring clarity and ease of navigation. It also accommodated newly added actions, reconfiguring them into a sticky toolbar at the top of the page to maintain accessibility as users scrolled.
Drawer design concept for company detail page
Full screen design concept for company detail page
We ultimately implemented the second concept, a full-page layout that made full use of the available width. This approach provided a more comprehensive overview and created space for new feature ideas we had been refining.
We replaced the company description with problem and solution statements, offering reviewers more contextually relevant information at a glance. This change made it easier for teams to understand the core challenges each startup was addressing and their proposed solutions, ultimately aiding in quicker and more informed decision-making.
We also introduced a Quick Rate section at the top of the page. This enabled reviewers to provide immediate assessments without having to navigate away or scroll extensively.
AI-generated insights offering a preliminary assessment
Supplemental Question Set
Data Packet
Redesigned layout of company detail page tailored for a different audience
Scorecards
Expansion of the Quick Rate concept, team members score at various stages
Activity Tab
Section showing active and previous engagements with each program team
Kanban View
An alternate view with mobile cards to organize prospective companies
Shared view fostering synergistic evaluation at a high level
Referrals
Ability for teams to surface potential matches to other programs
Looking Ahead
As Techstars continues to welcome applications for its accelerator programs, a robust platform for reviewing founders' carefully crafted submissions is essential. Techstars Review upholds the company’s mission of supporting high-impact entrepreneurs and fostering successful program outcomes, while strengthening the broader ecosystem. By improving collaboration among reviewers and leveraging data-driven insights, it fine tunes selection strategies, solidifying its role as a cornerstone of Techstars' ongoing success.
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