Ugly but useful
Ever spent hours perfecting an ad or graphic, only to watch someone else post something ugly… and get more engagement?
There was once I built a website and I just couldn't figure out how to turn a menu text into a button.
I ended up spending hours and days, Googling and going through forums. Getting irritated over it. (This was before AI)
As if it's going encourage more people to click and buy.
Honestly, who cares if a button is red, blue or yellow? What matters more is how useful it is for the reader.
Here are some ugly sites:
- Craigslist: Top #135 in the world.
- Hacker News
- Shopee: This is no Apple. UX designers will agree with me that the UX is umm...
But get this. These sites work! Millions of people visit and use them.
It's better to be useful than pretty. (Does that apply in real life though?)
So often, we spend too much time perfecting ad creatives, website, buttons and posts, that we forget to ask – are we creating something useful?
Craiglist still makes $302 million a year (In 2018, it was near $1 billion). Still impressive, given that they're probably facing competition from social media and other websites.
Make useful things.
Useful for who?
My wife bought a new mechanical keyboard. And loved the click-clack. It was a worth-it buy according to her.
I hated how it sounded. Can't believe how much it costed. And stuck to the beautiful, low-profile Apple keyboard that I carry everywhere.
That's the thing. Usefulness depends on who you ask.
If your marketing feels like it’s “not working,” it’s possible that you've been trying to convince everyone, instead of speaking directly to the person who sees your product the way my wife feels about her mechanical keyboard – essential, and worth paying for.
That’s where positioning comes in. The right story turns a random product into a "must-have".
This is what we'll do in the workshop, on 10th Dec: Underdog Live: Positioning That Sells
Use coupon code "ONEMORE" for RM50 off. Discount closes 5th Dec.