If you’re familiar with my work you know pretty well how I try to inculcate the importance of UX.
Not only for your app, or checkout flow, but also for the rest of your marketing website.
A lot of copywriters don’t make the connection because they think words alone are supposed to persuade people.
But they forget what Claude Hopkins said in the classic “Scientific Advertising”:
“In mail order advertising the pictures are always to the point. They are salesmen in themselves. They earn the space they occupy. “
Pictures (read: design), like words, should earn its space.
But let’s not only look at the past.
What about human behavior in today?
Many think that we’re driven by a surge of dopamine whenever we get what we desire.
It’s actually not true.
Dopamine, the chemical responsible for the excitement and craving we feel whenever there’s a reward involved, starts building up when we embark in the act of acquiring or working for that reward.
And it drops to basically zero when we get it!
It’s a phenomenon called “Dopaminergic anticipation” and as Dr. Andrew Huberman mentioned in a really good podcast with Jordan Peterson, “it’s a representation of how safe and secure you are” (for example knowing that you have food in the fridge and desiring food).
I’m way too familiar with it lately.
Having started a quite strict cutting diet, my daily calories are way limited compared to what I was used to.
The anticipation is always there. Reason why I keep on planning what I will eat throughout the day.
It makes me feel secure and safe.
Something inside of me wants to keep feeling like that reward is coming.
So what does this have to do with UX on your website?
When you curate your pre-sale user experience your visitors can get to their maximum craving even BEFORE buying.
Only when you make them feel safe and secure with clear, purposeful UX design.
And that can be very powerful.
Because it removes all the friction when it comes to taking out the wallet. At that point it will just feel like a release valve.
Want help on how to mix copy and UX to do just that?
