Figure out what to build before you build it.
Most don't. They build on assumptions, misread the pilot signals, and spend a quarter on the wrong diagnosis. By the time the real problem surfaces, the runway is already short.
Consortium UX works with seed-to-Series B founders and the VCs who back them
Mostly in fintech and agtech, where enterprise adoption is complex, high-stakes, and routinely misdiagnosed.
We don't build. We diagnose. In 90 minutes, we tell you what's actually blocking adoption... and whether it's fixable before your next board conversation.
The misdiagnosis is the problem. Not the product.
Your product works. The technology is solid. But enterprise users have entrenched workflows, limited time to learn new tools, and zero patience for products that don't obviously solve their problem.
When adoption stalls, founders almost always diagnose it wrong. Sales. Pricing. One missing feature. They burn a quarter on the wrong fix. By the time the real problem surfaces, the pilot relationship is damaged and the runway is shorter than it should be.
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Pilot lands
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Users struggle to activate — confused workflows, compliance friction, trust gaps
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Founder misdiagnoses the problem
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3–6 months of runway burns on the wrong fix
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The pilot fails, or never expands
In fintech and agtech, the stakes are higher:
Trust is slower to build. Compliance adds friction. Users have entrenched workflows and real consequences for mistakes. Getting the adoption architecture wrong isn't a UX problem — it's a runway problem.
We tell you what's actually broken. Then you decide what to do about it.
Thirty years in enterprise UX. Fifteen in fintech and agtech specifically — not advisory from a distance, but from actually having built in these environments. The pattern recognition is fast because we've seen the same failure modes dozens of times.
What we don't do: design screens or write code. We figure out what's blocking adoption and tell you the truth — with no stake in what you decide next.
The output is build-ready direction you can act on this quarter, with evidence that supports your next investor conversation.
Two Ways to Work with Us
UX Reality Check
Fast diagnosis at decision points
90 minutes. You walk us through what you've built. We pattern-match against 30 years of seeing similar problems. You leave with clarity on what's blocking adoption and what to fix.
No research phase. No discovery workshops. Straight to the diagnosis.
- 90-minute recorded session
- Written synthesis with specific recommendations
- Tactical fixes you can implement this quarter
- Pre-launch validation
- Post-pilot diagnosis when adoption is stalling
- Feature prioritization decisions
- Pivot-or-persevere moments
Investment:
$2,000 single session | $5,500 for 3-pack (use within 90 days)
UX Blueprint Sprint
Strategic foundation for teams ready to invest
When you need more than diagnosis — when you need the full strategic architecture before your team builds.
Modular blocks that click together:- Foundation (6 weeks) — required starting point; user research, journey mapping, product positioning
- Activation Research (+4–5 weeks) — optional; what drives users to actually switch
- Flow (12 weeks) — structural wireframes and architecture your team can build from
- Concept Validation (5–6 weeks) — test wireframes with real users before development
Important:
Most companies do Foundation first, then decide whether to add Flow or Validation. You don't commit to the whole chain upfront.
Decision cadence:
Every 2–4 weeks we deliver a Milestone Summary that locks decisions and directs next actions — so your team can execute without ongoing dependency.
Investment:
Starting at $48,000 (Seed baseline). Pricing scales with company stage.
The problem looks different depending on where you sit.
VCs & Incubators
You already know which of your portfolio companies is stuck. The question is whether the problem is diagnosable before another round goes in. Portfolio-wide access available — founder self-serve, you get the reporting.
[For VCs →]
Funded Founders
You're getting pilots, but something's off. Users aren't sticking, the conversion isn't there, and you can't get a straight answer from anyone with a stake in what you decide next.
[For Founders →]
Dev Shops & Agencies
Your clients want to build before they've figured out what to build. We provide the strategic discovery layer so you can focus on great execution.
[Contact us →]
Problems we identify before they become expensive:
- Product solving the wrong problem
- Target customer wrong for current capabilities
- Onboarding flow doesn't match user mental models
- Feature priorities misaligned with adoption drivers
- Missing enterprise table-stakes (permissions, audit trails, SSO)
- Compliance gaps that will block deployment
- Technology that works but doesn't fit how users actually work
Average prevention value: $150K–$500K in runway preserved per intervention.
What this looks like in practice
Enterprise Agtech
Climate Corporation / Bayer Crop Science · FieldView
The prescriptions team came in with mockups and a clear ask: make this flow as easy as possible. They were building a feature to let FieldView users create John Deere work plans directly from a prescription.
About forty minutes in, the real problem surfaced. The mockups implied the two systems were synchronized. They weren't. The integration was a one-time snapshot — once pushed to John Deere, the records were completely disconnected. Edit the prescription in FieldView: the work plan wouldn't update.
In agtech, that gap has physical consequences. Farmers executing variable-rate prescriptions make decisions about seed populations, chemical rates, and application timing. Those decisions are hard to reverse once equipment is running.
The fix wasn't a structural redesign. It was four lines of copy — language precise enough to communicate what the product actually did.
The design was making a promise the product couldn't keep. That gap was the deliverable.
UX Diagnostic · 1 Session · September 2023 · Prior work — Director of UX, Climate Corporation / Bayer Crop Science
Enterprise Fintech
Capital One · Small Business Banking
Small Business Banking enrollment was completing at 26%. The ask was to fix the drop-off.
The drop-off was at KYC. Not a form problem — a trust problem. Users were being asked for sensitive financial and identity information with no explanation of why it was needed. The fix was language: contextual explanations at each step in the verification sequence. Enrollment went from 26% to 92%.
But that number only told part of the story. Completed applications fed a manual review team in Richmond. At 92% completion, that team was handling more than three times the application volume with the same resources. The product was succeeding. The business had a new problem.
That downstream impact became an ongoing process — multiple visits to the Richmond operations team, and a sustained effort to integrate product decisions across operations, risk, fraud, and customer experience.
The metric improved. It just wasn't measuring the system.
Prior work — Senior UX Design Manager, Small Business Banking, Capital One · 2016–2018
Enterprise Data Platform
FluxNode · CerebriNode · San Francisco, CA
The founder had a pitch problem. Or so he thought.
His enterprise data unification platform was technically solid. Active conversations with enterprise buyers. But the pitch wasn't converting, and he was working harder on the words.
When we walked through the product, what looked like missing features was structural. No onboarding wizard. No role hierarchy for group-based access. The AI interface was visible before any data had been connected — the first thing a new user saw was a blank question box with nothing to ask about.
These aren't feature gaps. They're what an enterprise buyer senses in the first ten minutes of a demo, and what an experienced investor notices before they can say why the pitch isn't landing.
The product would pass a demo. It would fail a pilot. Those are two different failure modes, and most founders don't know which one they're in until they've already spent the runway to find out.
He built what needed to be built. Six months later, FluxNode had an active enterprise pilot with a major AI infrastructure company.
He didn't need a better pitch. He needed a better product.
Strategic Advisory · 2 Sessions · July–August 2025
Who's behind this
Simon Carney
Founder, Principal UX Strategist — San Francisco, CA
Thirty years in enterprise UX. Nokia. Microsoft. Capital One — where I took an enrollment flow from 26% to 92% completion. Six years at Climate Corporation (Bayer) leading UX strategy across a dozen products in production agriculture.
I started Consortium UX because the founders and VCs I kept meeting had the same problem: smart teams, real technology, wrong diagnosis. And no one in the room willing to tell them the truth without a stake in what they decided next.
That's the job.
Are we a good fit?
Best for:
- B2B enterprise software (not consumer)
- Funded startups (pre-seed through Series C+)
- Fintech and agtech — or adjacent complex verticals
- Teams that need strategic clarity, not UI polish
Not for:
- Design execution or code
- Consumer apps without enterprise workflow constraints
- Pre-funding or pre-product
- Teams wanting weekly implementation hand-holding
Not sure which you need?
Book a free 15-minute intro call. We'll figure out whether Reality Check or Blueprint Sprint makes sense for where you are.