ALIGNED AESTHETIC: I Don’t Want to Design for Conversion Anymore

Somewhere along the way, “designed to convert” became the highest compliment a website could receive. I don’t know about you, but as a designer, it has really taken the fun out of the whole process a bit, and added this pressure to make everything convert. Every button. Every headline. Every section, every page. Convert convert convert. Design became a business transaction. It feels like we have lost the art of….art.

This may seem controversial, but it is in fact how I’ve been feeling. I refuse to use the word convert on my own website, as it just does not feel authentically aligned to me or my business. My hope is that you can scroll my website and simply feel what I am writing and yes, even selling. But when you remove the need to convert, just the selling part feels less…icky.

And please understand, I am not trying to dismiss the importance of taking a visitor of your website and showing them your value so they purchase your product or service. People in wellness need to make money too, and there is nothing wrong with profiting from your craft and talents.

What Are We Embedding into Our Design?

When you hear the word “convert”, how do you feel as the audience member of a website you are browsing? Maybe you have a health issue that makes you want to work with someone.  The word implies urgency to me, the need to make a human into a sale. And along with this urgency, comes subtle anxiety. And guess what? Anxiety will get embedded right into the design. It’s the headlines that make you feel like you are running out of time if you don’t get help now. It’s the over-convincing sections, oozing with client testimonials about how much their lives have changed. Again, these are great things, in moderation and not in addition to every other conversion tactic. You have to let your audience actually breathe.

After putting so much work and energy into a drop dead gorgeous website, the last thing I want is the promotion of anxiety. Life can be chaotic enough sometimes. When you are selling your wellness and healing services, it’s best not to add to that.

When Everything Has a Job, Nothing Feels Like Art

I believe websites should be treated as art. There are probably many who would disagree with this, and maybe, this opinion should really should be industry specific. After all, should an insurance website still be treated as said art? Not necessarily as much as a reiki healer. But I digress. I simply believe websites should be treated as sacred containers that allow a visitor total agency to feel the way they want to feel and have the capacity to feel.

Websites absolutely have a space for art. I was taking a pattern design workshop last week and was in awe of the host’s designs on her website. I had never seen sections use hand drawn patterns in the way that she did, and let me tell you, it makes a impact. I wanted to keep scrolling, learn more about her, and even decided I eventually want to invest in her $2000 course. If that doesn’t convince you on the power of artistry on a website, what will?

I’m not saying:
“Conversion is bad.”

I am saying:

I’m more interested in resonance than persuasion. I want my work to be chosen, not optimized into being irresistible. I want to create things people feel, not just click.

I started noticing that when I designed for conversion, I felt activated.

When I designed for beauty, I felt calm.

What I’m choosing instead of designing for conversion

Instead of “How do I get people to buy?”, maybe we ask, “How do I create something people naturally want to step into?”. I know that every time I visit a store and have a sales associate try to sell me something, I naturally want to run away, even if the product is genuinely good. If someone has to convince me of something, I feel like my agency is lost, and then I didn’t make the decision, someone else made it for me.

Have any thoughts about this? Feel free to reach out and share!