UX Simplicity leads to Conversion Success

A New York Times study was conducted at a grocery retailer where employees set up a table with 24 different flavors of jam, and then the next day with only six different flavors of jam.

Prior to this study, the common marketing theory was that more choices are better for customers. People like more options, so providing more flavors should lead to more sales. The results from this study proved otherwise.

Jammed with Jams

During the time periods when 24 flavors were offered, 20% more people stopped to sample the jams than when only six jams were offered. These numbers seem to favor more choices, but the important question is this: which group actually purchased more?

When all those people sampled many flavors, only 3% purchased because there was too much information to analyze. The customers who sampled only six flavors, had a whopping 30% purchased! That’s a huge increase.

Customers might be attracted to a large number of choices, but when it comes time to make a purchase, too many options make decisions too complicated and lead to fewer sales.

There is a name for this, it’s called Analysis Paralysis where too many options become stress for our short term memory to process, hence rendering us incapable of making a decision or taking action.

People have created shortcuts around this problem. You go to the store and see that there are 1,505 different toothpastes all stacked up: Cavity Prevention, Enamel Protection, Sensitivity, Healthy Gums, Fluoride, Teeth-whitening, Multiple Flavors, so what do you do? You quickly buy the brand you recognize, can depend upon, and then get away from there as fast as you can to avoid the stress of having to analyze.

However, your company wants people to take a risk, stepping out of their comfort zone and trying your brand. You have tons of information to offer about why your brand is better, but you have to make it feel smart and easy.

TIP: If the online process you’re building is complicated, break it up into smart bite sized chunks and let the complex seem invisible.

How does this apply to your website?

Too many decisions will tire the users and creates less interest in accomplishing any task, including a simple click. Overcomplicated main navigations, paragraphs and paragraphs of text, too many images, multiple ads and buttons, etc. all contribute to Analysis Paralysis and fatigue the user.

Every attempt should be made to reduce the user’s responsibilities. Find the balance of content, attention choices, and lead the user’s eye through the composition of what you want to communicate and what the user wants to accomplish. 

A study was conducted that used an online contact form comparing eleven form fields to four form fields. When the form fields were narrowed to only four, the weekly submissions increased by 160%, and complete conversion rates increased by 120%. Less is more.

Getting “many” leads is not really the main goal, the priority should be getting many high quality leads. A high quality lead can be someone who has already learned about your products or services and is now impressed at how easy you have made it for them to contact you.

If your website looks like the Las Vegas strip with blinking lights and signs everywhere, this will excite them, but will also create numbness and apathy. If everything is simultaneously shouting equally at them, inaction will certainly be the outcome.

It’s simpler to create complex interfaces because it’s so complex to simplify them. Everyone should invest the time because interface simplicity is proven more successful.

Read more: Check out our other articles about this topic in Site Structure and Designing UX.

Thank you Neil Patel for your inspirations and observations.