Web Design as We Know It Is Dead

RIP

Before we dive in to this week’s newsletter:

New episode of the pod is LIVE. I chatted with Antonio Neves, an award-winning journalist and author of “Stop Living on Auto-Pilot”. He’s a dear friend of mine, and we talked about the founder retreat we used to host with founders of billion dollar companies.

Listen on Spotify, Apple and YouTube (subscribe for exclusive videos).

There are no ads in my podcast or my newsletter. All I ask is you subscribe, share and enjoy!

---

Web design as we know it is dead

At least if you want your brand to have a shot at being memorable.

What’s so wrong with the typical way we’ve all been building websites? 

There are 2 main problems consumer websites suffer from:

1. People don’t come back.  

2. Conversations & community live on someone else’s turf (IG, TikTok, FB etc)

These are pretty big issues if you want your brand to be self-sustaining. 

So, what does a more immersive, community-based web experience look like? 

Think of the new web design more like designing a Disney theme park than designing a website. 

• Instead of designing tabs, you’re designing “attractions”

• Instead of a homepage, you’re designing a home

• Instead of relying on other places to “hang out” with customers, we build that on our own land

You go from being 2D to 3D. 

The result: people will remember your brand.

The new web design includes things like:

• Mini-experiences to experience daily (games, treasure hunts, rituals)

• A home for community (Q&A, chat)

• Rewards (perks, digital assets etc) for participation

• Compelling theme 

• Sound and effects

• Token gated experiences

• Leaderboards

• Virtual land 

• Animation

And much more. But the one caveat here is that you must not compromise the usability of the experience for “cool features.” 

What the future actually looks like

We used to think that the future of web design was a well-designed Apple homepage.

But it’s actually going to look like NeoPets from 2002. 

Everything comes back around eventually - like those horrible pants you wore in middle school.

All that’s new is actually old.

We put this into practice and launched a “world” for our product agency/studio/fund business, Late Checkout.

“Retailtainment”

A similar phenomenon has happened in retail over the last decade, something called "retailtainment."

The goal: making the IRL shopping experience more fun and immersive. A place where people would want to come back to, and eventually end up buying more.

One real world example is the Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. which allows Marvel fans to step into a world of superheroes and villains.

Customers come for the real life movie props and interactive displays, and end up buying t-shirts, gear, and all kinds of merchandise.

Las Vegas Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N.

It’s kind of like the tried and true gift shop at the end of the museum. 

A remarkable experience at the museum takes you on a journey you don’t want to end. But it does end. With a well-placed gift shop. 

The immersion of the museum experience creates a trigger for buying merch and collectibles. 

These are tried and true experiences, and they are moving into web design.

Before you spend money on a web redesign, make sure you’re incorporating immersion and world-building.

Hire a web designer who thinks like a videogame designer. 

This is just the beginning. 

Be well,

Greg Isenberg

Btw, if you want help designing this experience, I can help you in 2 ways:

1. Hire Late Checkout. We help the world’s biggest brands build new businesses, create products that generate revenue and build community. Fill out form here. We work with 1 new client per month (minimum engagement is $75k)

2. Hire Dispatch. Monthly design subscription from world class visual designers that is 40% cheaper than hiring them. We’ll be your design team. Fill out form here. Note: waitlist is coming soon due to high demand sorry :(