When conversion is stalling, the default response in most product teams is to build something new. A new onboarding flow. A new pricing page. A new feature that addresses the objection customers keep raising. The assumption is that the problem is structural, that something needs to be added or changed in the product itself.
Kaat Declerck, Behavior Design Director and Co-Founder of HumanEyes, challenged this assumption at Gathering #10 in Ghent. Her argument was provocative and backed by evidence: in many cases, the product is fine. The words around it are the problem. The copy on your landing page, the microcopy in your onboarding flow, the way you frame your value proposition, these are often the highest-leverage changes a team can make.
Original Presentation Slides
Download the slides from this talk as presented at the gathering.
Words Are Part of the Product
Kaat opened by reframing how product teams should think about copy. In most organizations, words are an afterthought. The product is designed, built, and then someone writes the text. Often it is a developer putting placeholder copy that never gets replaced, or a PM writing something quickly because the feature needs to ship.