I recently launched Daan.dev’ new design. Ofcourse this calls for a celebration (and yes, there’s a coupon code at the bottom), but I thought I’d make this post informative, too. This is an optimization blog after all!
The Wrong Motivation
From the beginning I found my Astra Pro theme to be too basic. It yearned for some refining. It lacked professional appeal.
Unfortunately, as a programmer and newbie entrepeneur, there were a few obvious obstacles to overcome:
- I have no idea what “professional” looks like, because my thoughts are comprised of 1’s and 0’s.
- I had no budget to hire someone, because all the money I’m currently making is circling back into my new business — instantly.
Will Work for Beer
Luckily I was able to find a UX designer who would work for beer — if you think I’m kidding. I’m not.
I had a few wishes, for example: the ‘wave’ design was my idea. But as we went along he pointed things out to me I never even considered:
- I had already rearranged my checkout fields in what I thought was a logical order. He had me do it again.
- I liked the ‘add to cart’ idea, but in a shop where people usually buy only one item, wouldn’t it be better to send them to checkout immediately after clicking ‘buy’?
There were some others things, but these really stood out.
The Right Motivation for a New Design
As the design progressed, I learned that ecommerce isn’t about your taste or, having a ‘pretty’ website:
A professional webshop presents to visitors what they expect and more imporantly, where and when they expect it. Your personal taste really is irrelevant in this matter. Share on XYour personal touch should be in the words you choose i.e. your tone of voice, the colors, your logo, etc. This will make you stand out and recognizable.
When it comes to structure, and what to put where, you shouldn’t try to play by your own rules if you want to succeed.
How do you know your Website needs a New Design?
Well, that’s easy: just listen.
Whether it’s your gut, friends, family, a complaining customer. Just listen.
Whatever you do, just make sure that you back up your assumptions with numbers. Especially when you have to convince your boss to clear out the budget.
There are plenty of ways to find out how your visitors experience your website, varying from simple and cheap to thorough and expensive:
- Have a UX designer scan through your site,
- Enable Hotjar tracking and/or,
- Ask your visitors about their experiences, e.g. after they made a purchase (offering a coupon here might boost replies)
Conclusion
Finally, if the numbers/experts tell you otherwise, don’t be stubborn. If your webshop doesn’t represent your taste, doesn’t mean it’s ugly and in need of a new design.
Whether my motivation might’ve been right or wrong, I went through with the new design and I’m happy with the end result. I learned a lot and I will make sure to share all this knowledge with you in the coming months!
But, as promised, on to the fun part.
To celebrate Daan.dev’ new design (and because it’s May 20th and it’s my sister’s 40th (2 x 20) Birthday) I’m giving 20% off everything till the end of this month:
FANCY20
You can simply click on the link to start shopping with Daan.dev. The coupon code will be automatically applied to your cart during checkout!
What do you think of Daan.dev‘ new design?
