How to eliminate risk, boost performance, and pay for the entire project BEFORE you launch You can watch the video replay of this presentation at https://marketingexperiments.com/conversion-marketing/end-of-web-design Flint McGlaughlin walks through the four critical paradigm shifts that you need to consider before you invest in a website redesign. If you would like to learn how you can maximize your digital investment for the fastest possible return, you can read about the MECLABS Quick Win Intensive here: https://meclabs.com/quickwinintensive

1. The End of Web Design: Don't design
for the web, design for the mind
How to eliminate risk, boost performance, and pay
for the entire project BEFORE you launch
Flint McGlaughlin
Managing Director
MECLABS Institute

2. MECLABS pioneered the industry, defining the
primary standards for scientific testing in
conversion marketing and teaching at Adobe,
Microsoft, Google, Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford and
many others.
We have invested $138 million in research
partnerships with groups like Google, Amazon,
Verizon as well as small startups
 20,000+ sale path experiments
 1 billion tested emails
 500,000 executive interviews
 2,200 brand-side case studies
 36,980 companies benchmarked

3. Experiment: Control

4. “It’s not a website, it’s a fluid conversation.”
— Flint McGlaughlin, CEO, MECLABS
The simple word “website” creates a danger for us. We
tend to think of it as a place, but it is not a place; it is a
process that is flowing and fluid. It is 0s and 1s. It is
illusions triggering queues in the mind.
So, you may be wondering, if it’s not a website, then
what is it?
In this video, Flint McGlaughlin answers this question.
WATCH THE VIDEO NOW

5. Experiment: Control

6. Checkout Steps
The total control checkout
flow contains six steps

7. Experiment: Treatment

8. Experiment: Treatment

9. Checkout Steps
The total treatment checkout
flow contains two steps

11. Experiment Results
The treatment outperformed the control by 53.9%
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11 Day 12
Control
Treatment
Customer Insight
By implementing an entirely new
approach to web design, the
treatment generated a 54% relative
increase in performance.
54%
Relative Increase

12. 01 Don’t think web;
think mind

13. 01 Don’t think web;
think mind
• It’s not a website, it’s a fluid
conversation
• Start with “who” not “how”
• Determine the “what,” then, power it
with a “why”
• Trace the “what” back to its constituent
“yes-sequence”

14. It takes a long unbroken
sequence of micro-
yes(s) to achieve a
macro-yes (the sale),
but it
takes just a single
“no” to undo every
single “yes.”
People are not falling into the
sales funnel; they are falling out
Yesm1
Yesm1
Yesm1
Yesm1
Yesm1
Yesm1
Yesm1
Yesm1
Yesm1
The marketer must
defy the law of gravity.

15. 02
01 Don’t think web;
think mind
Don’t think launch;
think calibrate

16. 02
01 Don’t think web;
think mind
Don’t think launch;
think calibrate
• Don’t launch and hope; pre-test
critical paths.
• Don’t bet on one hypothesis; prepare
alternate versions.
• Don’t let dominant opinions drive design;
give customers the power to refine your
launch.

17. 321%
Relative Increase

18. 638%
Relative Increase

19. 02
01
03
Don’t think web;
think mind
Don’t think launch;
think calibrate
Don’t think technology;
think humanity

20. 02
01
03
Don’t think web;
think mind
Don’t think launch;
think calibrate
Don’t think technology;
think humanity
• The point of technology is not to be more
productive, it’s to be more personal
• If you don’t give your website a voice,
your prospect will (and it will be negative)
• Think vertical; not horizontal. This is a
flowing dialogue, not a barrage of
competing claims

21. How would you make this page more human?

22. How would you make this page more human?

23. How would you make this page more human?

24. 02
01
03
04
Don’t think web;
think mind
Don’t think launch;
think calibrate
Don’t think technology;
think humanity
Don’t think cost;
think gain

26. Experiment: Control

27. Experiment: Treatment

28. Experiment Results
The treatment outperformed the control by 18%
Marketing Insight
By pre-testing a single page (the
homepage) Papa Steve’s was able
to achieve quick revenue gains to
fund further improvements.
18%
Relative Increase
“Since the redesign was launched…the overall
conversion rate (total orders/total visitors) is up
18%, and overall revenue increased 18%...”
Steven Diebold
Founder
Papa Steve’s No Junk Raw Protein Bars
Source: MarketingSherpa.com/PapaSteves

29. 02
01
03
04
Don’t think web;
think mind
Don’t think launch;
think calibrate
Don’t think technology;
think humanity
Don’t think cost;
think gain
• It’s not about the expense, it’s about the
cash conversion cycle.

30. The Cash Conversion Cycle
A measure of how long cash is tied up in working capital. It quantifies the number of days
it takes a company to convert cash outflows into cash inflows and, therefore, the number
of days of funding required to pay current obligations and stay in business.
Days Inventory
Days Receivable
Days Payable
Cash Conversion Cycle
Raw Materials
Purchased Payment Made Goods Sold Payment Received
Source: MECLABS.com/CCC

31. 02
01
03
04
Don’t think web;
think mind
Don’t think launch;
think calibrate
Don’t think technology;
think humanity
Don’t think cost;
think gain
• It’s not about the expense, it’s about the
cash conversion cycle.
• It’s not about the total, it’s about the ratio.

33. 02
01
03
04
Don’t think web;
think mind
Don’t think launch;
think calibrate
Don’t think technology;
think humanity
Don’t think cost;
think gain
• It’s not about the expense, it’s about the
cash conversion cycle.
• It’s not about the total, it’s about the ratio.
• Think two horizons – a quick win for the
near-term with competitive advantage for
the long-term
• Use the ARC Principle
• Optimize negative elements first

34. Cost Force
C=4m+3v+2(i-f)-2a®

35. 02
01
03
04
Don’t think web;
think mind
Don’t think launch;
think calibrate
Don’t think technology;
think humanity
Don’t think cost;
think gain
• It’s not about the expense, it’s about the
cash conversion cycle.
• It’s not about the total, it’s about the ratio.
• Think two horizons – a quick win for the
near-term with competitive advantage for
the long-term
• Use the ARC Principle
• Optimize negative elements first
• Prioritize with M4L

36. “It’s not a website, it’s a fluid conversation.”
— Flint McGlaughlin, CEO, MECLABS
The simple word “website” creates a danger for us. We
tend to think of it as a place, but it is not a place; it is a
process that is flowing and fluid. It is 0s and 1s. It is
illusions triggering queues in the mind.
So, you may be wondering, if it’s not a website, then
what is it?
In this video, Flint McGlaughlin answers this question.
WATCH THE VIDEO NOW

37. MECLABS.com/QuickWinIntensive