Why Do SAAS Websites Look So Similar
Why certain conventions aren't worth bucking
Why do most SAAS websites look so similar to each other?
This week on Reddit Marketing School: A post in the SAAS subreddit asked viewers to Roast their landing page.
The page eschews most design advice/feedback I have ever given or received. I told OP to make the page look more like other SAAS pages, with left-aligned text, a hero section, and visual callouts for testimonials and features.
OP responded with some hostility, which I thought was weird, since they asked to be roasted. They tried to defend their design choices as "being true to themselves" and wanting to be unique.
I have had this argument many times both on the internet and in person, when I was the co-founder of a startup.
How We Got Here
Here is my understanding of why sites all look similar, and why you should find a unique look within that general frame:
Over the past 20 years, marketers and web developers have experimented with form, function, copy and design.
Many of those people used a/b testing to find patterns and layouts that led to optimal understanding and use.
Conventions were adopted to better align with human behavior, and increase retention and usability.
Now, most people have an expectation for how a website/app should look, feel, and work. So it reinforces these conventions, because people want the buttons and settings etc. to be where they expect them, which is informed by experience they have had with other software.
Why Are You Building in the First Place?
So I get the whole “be different” ethos, but it’s like if a pillow manufacturer thought that cool patterns on cotton-lined pillows weren’t enough room to really “express themselves” and decided to make the pillow out of sandpaper…
Bad user experience is a perfectly legit form of “expression” but the pillow won’t sell. You can’t make people buy it. You face more friction trying to get people to use it long term.
So what do you want?
A piece of your creativity that fits to your unique style?
OR
A product that people use and enjoy using?