Tips and tools: The risks of redesigns, the power of simple words, and an unseen Steve Jobs interview

Here are some great resources we have recently shared with one another

(We don’t profit from recommending things. We just love sharing things we think you’ll appreciate. You can see our other Tips and Tools articles here.)

A cautionary tale of a full redesign

Side-by-side comparison of the old and new Bureau of Meteorology weather radar for Brisbane (Mt Stapylton), showing rainfall intensity maps. The old version on the left uses a simpler layout, while the new version on the right has an updated interface.

If you have ever been tempted to “tear it down and start over” with your website, this BBC article on a catastrophic redesign project is a must-read. It serves as a stark reminder that even with the best intentions, a complete overhaul can backfire if it loses sight of user needs.

This perfectly illustrates the points we made in our own article, How to tell if your expensive new website is useless, where we discuss why big-budget redesigns often fail to improve conversions.

(Sometimes redesigns are necessary, but they should be approached strategically, as we detail in our RealEstateU Redesign Win Report.)

This is a web page (and words matter most)

A minimal web page with the heading ‘This is a web page.’ followed by short lines of text making the point that words are the most powerful tool on the web.

We love the brutal simplicity of this page. It’s a powerful demonstration that you don’t need complex animations or heavy graphics to be persuasive. In fact, most of the time, your words are doing the heavy lifting.

As the author, Justin Jackson, puts it:

“I wrote these words, and you’re reading them: that’s magical.”

We also got a kick out of the squirrel reference—long-time fans of our work might remember our own “conversion squirrel.”

Screenshot of an early Conversion Rate Experts article titled ‘101 Easy Ways to use Google’s New Website Optimizer’ featuring the Conversion Rate Squirrel mascot, with 1281 Diggs shown in the corner. — A screenshot of one of our earlier articles featuring the Conversion Rate Squirrel. The article spent a whole day at the top of Digg’s homepage, making our website the third-fastest-growing website in the world.

A never-before-seen 1996 interview with Steve Jobs

The Steve Jobs Archive recently released a fascinating, previously unseen 1996 interview where Jobs discusses the early days of Pixar.

Filmed just after Toy Story became a phenomenon, it offers a rare glimpse into his thinking on storytelling, technology, and the patience required to build something truly revolutionary.

It’s a masterclass in long-term vision—something we often talk about in relation to Genchi Genbutsu style thinking.

From the archive: Why Saul Goodman is a conversion genius

Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad sitting at a desk in front of a framed copy of the US Constitution, holding a World’s Greatest Lawyer mug.

Better call CRO: Why Breaking Bad’s Saul Goodman is a conversion rate genius is one of our most popular articles, and for good reason. It turns out that the world’s most morally flexible TV lawyer is also a masterclass in persuasion, social proof, and understanding what your customer really wants to hear.

It’s a fun look at how even “fictional” characters can teach us a lot about the psychology of persuasion and building a brand that people (oddly) trust.

If so, let us know. We could include it in a future article.

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