A founder-led product & UX audit
Product
Reality Check
Send me your product. I'll tell you what's wrong with it.
This is a product and UX audit grounded in human judgement. I'll use your product as a new customer, cut through the assumptions, and give you a clear view of what is confusing, what is weak, and what I'd fix first.
€149 · written assessment back within 48 hours · no sales call needed.
How it works
01
You send the product
A URL, a short description, who it's for, and what you're trying to get people to do. A demo or Loom if it helps. That's the whole brief.
02
I use it as a stranger
No context, no benefit of the doubt. I work through it the way a new customer would and judge the experience in front of me rather than the intention behind it.
03
You get the Reality Check
A concise written assessment with annotated screenshots and prioritised recommendations — what's confusing, what's weak, and what I'd fix first.
What your product audit covers
Seven sections, written plainly. No scoring rubric, no hundred-slide deck, nothing padded.
What I understand
What your product appears to be, in my words, after using it cold.
What's confusing
The moments where I had to guess, re-read, or stop and think.
What I don't trust
Claims, pricing, empty states and copy that quietly cost credibility.
Where users may drop off
The specific steps where a new customer would give up.
What's unnecessary
Features, fields and screens that add weight without adding value.
The 3 changes I'd make first
Prioritised, specific, and small enough to actually ship.
What I would not build
The tempting work I'd leave alone, and why.
What it costs
Fixed prices, stated up front. You're buying a clear piece of work, not a proposal.
Reality Check
€149 one-off
An honest read on your product, in writing, within 48 hours.
- 48-hour turnaround
- 20–30 minute hands-on assessment
- Concise 2–3 page written report
- Annotated screenshots
- Your top 3 priorities
Deep Reality Check
€399 one-off
The written assessment, plus an hour together to work through it.
- Everything in the Reality Check
- 60-minute call with you and your team
- Full onboarding and user journey review
- Comparison against two competitors
- Prioritised action plan
Product Reset
€750–€1,500 bespoke
When the problem is bigger than the interface.
- Positioning and how the product explains itself
- UX, onboarding and information architecture
- Pricing and packaging
- The core workflow, rebuilt on paper
- MVP priorities: what to build, what to drop
Scoped to your product, so it needs a conversation first.
Talk about a ResetStart your Reality Check
Seven short answers. It takes about three minutes, and it's everything I need to start.
Who's looking at it
Michael O'Callaghan. A product, UX and technology operator who has spent 25 years building, breaking and rebuilding software — as a founder, an engineer, and a product and UX lead. Platforms I've built and still run have trained tens of thousands of people.
This is founder-led. You're not being handed to a junior reviewer, and you're not getting a generated report. One person uses your product and tells you what they actually found.
Read the longer story →Secondary, if you want it
Reality Check Monthly
€299–€599 a month for a standing set of product eyes: a look at what shipped, an honest read on what's coming next, and someone to think a decision through with before you commit the sprint.
Most clients start with the one-off Reality Check and only move to this if the same questions keep coming back. Month to month, no notice period.
Ask about Reality Check MonthlyCommon questions
- What is a Product Reality Check?
- It is a founder-led product and UX audit. I use your product as a first-time customer and write down honestly what is confusing, what is weak, where users may drop off, what is unnecessary, and the three things to fix first.
- How is this different from a standard UX audit?
- A standard UX audit often concentrates on interface conventions. I look at the whole product problem: what the product communicates, how the journey feels, where trust breaks down, what the business needs users to do, and whether the team is building the right thing.
- How fast do I get it?
- The €149 Reality Check is returned within 48 hours of confirmation as a concise 2–3 page written report with annotated screenshots.
- Is this an automated or AI audit?
- No. It is human judgement from someone who has built, shipped and run real products. Tooling may help with the mechanics, but the assessment and the recommendations are mine.
- Do I need a sales call first?
- Not for the Reality Check or the Deep Reality Check. You send the product details, I confirm by email within one working day and send payment details. Only the Product Reset needs a conversation first, because it is scoped to your product.
- Will you be blunt?
- Yes, and specific. You are paying for the assessment you would not get from someone who wants to keep you comfortable.
Looking for something deeper than the product itself? The Product Clarity Session is about the decision behind it.