🎬 Every week I share a short (fun!) product video teardown and some hot takes on behavior change. Pro tip: The video only takes 〜2.5 minutes at 2x speed. And it will be more memorable. ;) ⏩
If you’re selling something expensive, like a consumer good or an enterprise deal, the companies you should be studying are StubHub, Ticketmaster, Booking.com, and Airbnb. Travel and entertainment sites have cracked something hard: how to take a big purchase and actually get you to commit.
I know this because I’m buying World Cup tickets. They’re expensive and the stakes feel high. I have to figure out where I want to sit, how much I want to spend, what the view is like, and whether I will regret any of it. I have been back to this site four times. You could call a lot of what StubHub does scammy, but I think it is almost required. This is a complex, expensive, emotional purchase, and somehow they make it feel possible.
Here is the UX move that does the most work for them: quantification. The site is covered in green scores. This seat is an 8.7. That one is an 8.4. There is a “fan favorite” label too, but I am not using the words to decide. I am using 8.7 versus 8.4.
Linda Chang (former post-doctoral research fellow at Wharton) published a paper on this. Her research shows that it’s easier for us to compare attributes when they are quantified, so instead of weighing “best” or “softest,” we reach for numbers. And when a product gives you both a number and a qualitative description, people lean on the number.
This is exactly what is happening to me. The decision is so complex that the score is almost the only thing I can hold onto, other than price. There is a $336 seat sitting right there, and part of me thinks I am only going to the World Cup once, so maybe I should. But it is an 8.2, not an 8.7. Not worth it.
This is what good design does with a hard choice. It takes something messy and makes it very easy to make a decision and take the next best action.
The scores are the spine, but they are not working alone. StubHub stacks a few other things and I’m watching them all fire at once.
Heuristics make it easy to skim: “Best value.” “New tickets.” “Only 4% left.” Each one is a shortcut that turns an overwhelming page into a decision I can make. New is surprisingly powerful, because new is exciting and I want to click it.
Objection handling, to decrease my doubt: My top worry is the view. So StubHub shows me the view. That is what a good sales team does: they know the number-one objection and they answer it before you can raise it. Then they tell you why you are making a fine decision.
Reassurance at the moment of purchase: Most e-commerce sends you to cart and forgets to tell you that you did a good job. StubHub does the opposite and reminds me how smart this choice is while I am making it. Popular pick. Amazing value. Clear view. I even liked that the button said “confirm,” because confirming a quantity does not feel like committing to a purchase, so it walks me to the next step without resistance.
A money-back-style guarantee: StubHub calls it Fan Protect. It’s not really a refund, but it sits in the same family as insurance or audit protection: a promise that you will not make a bad decision. When you add something like that, people are less risk-averse about clicking. When Amazon added “cancel anytime,” Prime conversion shot up. Telling someone they can back out, or that the choice is protected, matters most at the moment they are deciding.
The checkout itself was a relief. They took my email and did not make me set a password (I assume StubHub will find plenty of other ways to email me later). One field, then Buy Now. And I’m going to the World Cup!
Quantify the thing your users are struggling to compare. If people are choosing between fuzzy options, give them a number. They will use it.
Find the one objection and answer it on the page. For StubHub it was the view, so they showed the view. Know yours.
Reassure at the click, not after. Tell people they made a good decision while they are deciding, and lower the perceived risk with something like a guarantee or an easy out.
If you are trying to push someone toward a big, scary decision, whether it is a customer or your spouse, go study the sites that already do this for a living. And if you’re working on a big, expensive purchase flow where people stall right before they commit, that’s what we do all day at Irrational Labs: kristen@irrationallabs.com.
Will you be in San Francisco for the Monday, June 22nd game? Let me know — I’ll see you there!
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