Product Marketing “Teardown Tuesday”1/31/17 - Stripe Homepage

Simple top nav doesn’t provide viewer with too many choices

Tasteful way to highlight recent news instead of awkward call outs/placement or directing viewers to ‘news’ page

Dual CTAs are okay so long as they’re relevant to what the visitor wants to do.

Headline demonstrates authority and tells me enough to understand what Stripe is

H2 articulates what Stripe does and lets visitor self-qualify. Could be more value-based but highest priority is making the visitor understand who you are and what you do, for whom.

Dare I say the color and imagery on this page makes something boring like ‘credit card payments’ sexy?

Your first “below the fold” screen is almost as critical as your “above the fold”

Stripe hits two birds with one stone by highlighting some of their big-name clients in product shots

Hiding links to things like case studies on the homepage de-clutters top nav & helps the story flow

Wait, I thought Stripe was just a payment processor...glad they used this opportunity to tell me they’re so much more

This is the ‘third’ below the fold scroll. I guess developers are also an important customer for them. Separating audiences by folds instead of pages lets you still address your most important audiences without merging everything together in a confusing hodgepodge.

This sounds a little lofty & if you missed the header, seems like it’s speaking to two audiences - the developers building on Stripe and the end customers whose solutions run on Stripe. Better visual separation (stronger color gradient?) could mitigate this.

Developer-centric imagery and navigation options

Quantifying your business results and customer portfolio commands credibility

Social proof lifts conversion. WiderFunnel found a ‘quick and dirty’ logo dump increased aggregate conversions by 17%

Brand promise of continuous improvement and product momentum

Lots of options for the viewer to explore (different things) further and increase engagement. Don’t let your conversation ‘end’ at the bottom of the page!

Have a lot of stuff in your top nav? Move the least-visited pages to the bottom nav to declutter the experience.

Scoring (out of 5) - 4.5 overall

4The messaging is authoritative but not cocky. I understand they’re a leader in the space and have deep expertise, which gives me confidence as a visitor. The product messaging is concise and simple for a complex technology. In addition to the social proof at bottom, Stripe employs an aspirational and human tone.

4

5

5

While I don’t have full knowledge of the product from the homepage, I have enough to spark my curiosity. Stripe also did themselves a favor by defining themselves as more than just a payment processor and a “complete” toolkit for internet businesses (What does this mean? What kind of ‘toolkit?). They also link off to product pages and detail from the homepage instead of cluttering it.

With any brand and product, design is a key element. But when you’re dealing with something like credit card processing that just isn’t sexy at all, it’s critical. Stripe’s use of colors, icons and illustrations are a welcome respite from websites that look like Oracle software technical manuals.

A variety of options woven into the story and design of the homepage make it easy for me as a prospect to continue my journey however I want. While available, I’m not getting beaten over the head with the “get started” option, which visitors probably appreciate given the SaaS tendency to drive everyone to “get demo.”

MESSAGING

PRODUCT

DESIGN

CTA’S