Optimizely

This is a show where I (Peep Laja, founder of Wynter) conduct actual message testing on real websites with real people. 

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This week: Optimizely (volunteered by Thilo Richter).

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I ran a message test on their "Feature Experimentation" page, testing with ecommerce/retail product leaders.

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Overall results:

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Clarity: 3/5

Demo interest: 2.7/5

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The results are not strong, yet again could be fixed relatively easily. A key benefit of message testing is to uncover friction - and I found a lot.

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Key issues on this page:

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1. The above-the-fold area makes benefit claims that are never explained.

They pique some curiosity with statements like "more control and impact" and "higher quality releases, safer tests, faster feature validations" - BUT those claims are never followed up with.

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2. Lack of focus

What is this page intending to achieve? Is it to pitch the feature flags product? Or the whole Optimizely suit?

Or app testing or data core service? It has a mix of CTAs, and lacks a focused, coherent story. In the end, folks were confused about what the offer was.

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3. Overwhelming feature list

Folks are interested in the features, but the presentation of them (all at once) is ineffective, causing overwhelm.

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4. Unclear imagery

It's good that they are trying to help the clarity of the message with helpful images - but the clarity of the images used is falling short. It's not obvious what's going on there.

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5. Vague subheads.

Most people only read subheads, not paragraph copy. So if the only thing you see is "Deliver at every step", it does nothing to the value perception of the product.

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