Role - Product Designer
Duration - 2 work days
This project was a redesign exercise for job application purposes, it does not represent the Helpjuice company and I am not in any way working with them at the moment.
The CEO of Helpjuice pitched me a problem that the website is currently having. It had to do with the testimonials section on the homepage and on how o make them more appealing.
“On Helpjuice.com, if we wanted to display even more testimonials, but in a way that's visually appealing (right now our landing page "feels" like it has too much text), what would you do?”
As a response to this question, I came up with a few testimonial design solutions and actually decided to redesign the whole website, as I came to find a lot of areas that could be substantially improved.
There is no right or wrong when we talk about the number of testimonials on a website, but let's get one thing clear: in the field of product design and online marketing, sometimes less is better. Customers can leave if you have too many client testimonials that clutter the landing page. It can overwhelm them.
However, research suggests that the optimal number of customer testimonials on the landing page is between 10 to 30. This practice provides enough social proof to establish trust with potential customers without overwhelming them with too much information.
Studies suggest that having as few as five testimonials can improve your conversion rates by nearly four times. Why are testimonials so powerful for your site? They provide credibility, establish trust and influence the purchasing decision. In a world where businesses need to stand out from their competition, it's vital to establish a human connection with your existing and prospective customers.
Initial research shows a few key points about testimonials, their ideal format and the way they are displayed.
A good testimonial should:
. Be only two or three paragraphs, at most - They should be written in your customer's tone so that your testimonial doesn't seem overly formal or technical. Testimonials are accessible, easy to understand the content that connects with potential customers
. Be on display on the homepage (and on a full case study page)
. Be easy to digest for the viewer. A testimonial may be great, even if there's lots of praise in it, it may be too lengthy. Most viewers are probably just going to scroll past it, which means the entire testimonial useless
. Add a shorter version of the testimonial to home page and then the full version of it to your case study page to really show the entire experience your clients
. Focus on the transformation your client went through by using your product
. Human connection. We as humans like to see other human faces and tend to relate more to the content if there is a face to go along with the quote. This makes it that much personal.
Due to time restraints, I decided to act quickly and go the simple route (which is often the best route).I’ve considered that maybe the answer is not to have many testimonials on the landing page. Maybe only a select few there and then we can give the user the option to see all (on a dedicated page) and even to dig deeper and see each case study individually (these case study pages would show how the company helped that particular client in detail, similar to the current examples page).
This should allow for better flow on the homepage and less clutter. I was also able to establish that people don't click through carousels, they tend to find them boring. Very few people will actually wait and go past testimonial number one which means that all the great stuff that people have to say about you will actually go unnoticed.
That being said, I was able to build a card for each testimonial that is in line with the brand’s identity and decided to add only 3 of them to the homepage. In that same section I’ve added a “see all” link, that takes us to the dedicated testimonial page. Also on each card I’ve added a “see full study” button that takes us directly to the case study for each client.
I believe it is good to allow the user to choose how deep they want to get into a subject.
Due to time restraints, I decided to act quickly and go the simple route (which is often the best route).I’ve considered that maybe the answer is not to have many testimonials on the landing page. Maybe only a select few there and then we can give the user the option to see all (on a dedicated page) and even to dig deeper and see each case study individually (these case study pages would show how the company helped that particular client in detail, similar to the current examples page).
This should allow for better flow on the homepage and less clutter. I was also able to establish that people don't click through carousels, they tend to find them boring. Very few people will actually wait and go past testimonial number one which means that all the great stuff that people have to say about you will actually go unnoticed.
That being said, I was able to build a card for each testimonial that is in line with the brand’s identity and decided to add only 3 of them to the homepage. In that same section I’ve added a “see all” link, that takes us to the dedicated testimonial page. Also on each card I’ve added a “see full study” button that takes us directly to the case study for each client.
I believe it is good to allow the user to choose how deep they want to get into a subject.
I noticed a couple of things with their current design at the moment, but I wanted to first establish who the website is going to be for and what kind of information are people even looking at on websites like that.
The data was already there. They had users, they had a lot of users, and they even had user feedback. So I already knew what kinds of users they are actually aiming to help. I just created a couple of characteristics of those users, just so I would be able to actually focus our attention on them.
I analysed the comments of their current users and realised that the biggest problem they had with the landing page was that they weren't really sure of all the features. They weren't really highlighted in the best possible way that the system had to offer, so I decided to focus on this the most with the redesign.
The approach that I use very often with redesigns, is to create a very quick first version and then start researching with people. Because there were already some issues with the layout, the grid, readability and the overall attractiveness of the design. I believe that if I fix those first, it is going to be a lot easier to get relevant feedback from the users, not stuff like "I don't know what I'm looking at", because this is pointless. I can fix things like that right away.
Something else that I thought was lacking on their current website was the lack of the human connection, especially in the header. People are emotionally drawn to other humans, and we are seeing a huge comeback of realistic photos of people in the headers of landing pages.
I didn't have the time or the budget here for a photo shoot that's dedicated to the project, but we decided to go with a stock photo. I actually tested a couple of different characters in those headers. I chose to have the model in the photo looking directly at the main tagline, this is an old trick that kind of helps guide our gaze to the same place as the model.
I tested a more serious business man in a suit, shirt and a tie, but realised from the market data that their target is actually younger people, right now, and a little bit more cool people, let's say.
It's a little bit risky, because it might turn off some people that are older and a little bit more corporate minded, but the majority of the people that I tested it on loved it.
His part was all about building trust. So I kept the logos of their customers because they're all very well known companies. I only wanted to highlight them a little bit by adding more white space around the logo, so there's definitely more empty space below the logos.
Another big change that I did was to add new dedicated pages for the testimonials, this allowed me to offload a lot of the data that was present on the home page. This is also good as it allows the user to learn more and dig deeper, if they choose to. This way we are not forcing the user to look at all of this data, but we are giving them the power to choose.
Here the main changes that I did for A/B testing:
Kept the logo and added a hamburger menu icon (for mobile).
Emphasised the logo as a credible brand. The hamburger menu aids in product discovery, and the cart icon informs users that it's a SaaS product.
Highlighted 1-2 key features in the product image. This creates value and justifies the price.
Kept the same brand identity and worked around its colour palette.
The award is now presented as a badge.
Show testimonials very clearly and a full case study for each customer.
Added a new dedicated page just for testimonials.
Replaced the more blend cards with realistic mockups, making the cards more appealing.
Success lies in attention to detail. I always do my best to keep things intuitive and simple.
