Why being everybody's darling kills conversions

The other day, I was explaining one common mistake many people make when designing a website, especially in the B2C sector. Can you guess what this may be, from a usability/UX perspective? Most of the time, people try to please everyone. This is not just the case in the business world, but also in our personal lives. It's about pleasing your parents, your kids, your boss, your partner, your friends and so on. You try to harmonise many different actions that actually do not match each other or are even opposite. In the end, the result will be that at least one party will be disappointed or neglected. Everyday I see articles on social media promoting setting priorities, saying no and so on. The struggle is real. You cannot please everyone and the most important thing here is: You don't have to. If you set your priorities right, so that you know what is important to you personally and reject everything that is not, you might not end up being everyone's darling, but people will respect you for being consequent and standing up for who you are. If you're already that type of person, it might seem trivial to think your business like that. But many people change their view here. Companies, especially startups, that offer a service on a website often try to appeal to all customers. They need people to get the thing going. Still, there is one issue with that. If there are too many functions, options, social media channels and so on, the customer will be overwhelmed and simply quit the website after the first look. Instead, when you are trying to build a website, first take a careful look at the audience you design for. Don't design for mom and dad, and your sis and bro, and also trying to fit in your grandparents. Decide who is the most important person you want to reach out to with your website. If that would be dad, then go for it and check his individual traits, needs etc. and optimise your website according to it. Because if dad likes your website and will make use of it or buy your product, the rest will come, too. That's what personas are all about. You need to definitely know who is your main target audience. There can be a secondary and maybe even a third one, but to know this, you have to do your research. Let's say you have an online shop for women's sneakers. Who is definitely not your audience? Probably men, women who only wear other kinds of shoes, kids and all people not interested in sneakers or buying online. So go find some women who love sneakers and ask them about why they love them and what they expect from a website when they are searching for a new pair of sneakers. Find out how old your female customers are mainly, what do they do on a daily basis, what are their interests, what is their lifestyle? Do they only use sneakers for sports or rather use them as sportswear to create fancy street styles? Out of all these answers (and many more) you can create a, let's say Lucy, 27, who is social media marketing manager at a startup in the media industry and loves to create crazy outfits. She is living in Berlin in a flat together with two other friends, has a fashion blog on the side and is always up to date within the online shopping world of fashion. That's why she is very interested when she discovers your online shop and likes to buy that one extraordinary pair of sneakers. Don't you think it's not only easier to design for Lucy than for the rest of the world, but also more effective and in the end efficient? Treat your persona(s) as if it was a real customer and whenever you think about a new function, design or whatsoever remember to consider whether Lucy would love it. If she doesn't, skip it, because if she loves it, the rest will do, too. So, always remember your priorities and don't be afraid to say no. It will pay out in the end. Did you already hear of personas or do you make use of them and what are your experiences?

This article was previously published on my blog where I also post about topics apart from usability & UX: http://inspie.weebly.com/home/why-being-everybodys-darling-kills-conversions