Growth Newsletter #270

When MidJourney launched via Discord 2+ years ago, the UX was tricky, at least for me. For those not intimately familiar with Discord (and a little intimidated by their first foray into image-gen) the experience left plenty to be desired.

You had to create and link a couple accounts, you were directed to use public channels filled with other users’ images, it wasn’t clear where your saves went (or how your credits worked), and you started every prompt by manually typing “/imagine”.

It constantly had me wondering, “Am I even using this right?” and the murky UX almost made me walk away.

Fast-forward to Midjourney today, and it’s as user-friendly as anything: a familiar “search bar” at the top for your prompt, upvoted eye-candy, a simple side panel for navigation, and no two-stepping through another platform (i.e., Discord).

This transformation epitomizes the stupid-simple standard that’s become the template for today’s AI platforms, where the inner-workings are increasingly mind-bending, but the outward-facing wrapper is instantly enticing.

Let’s take a closer look at this standard that’s coalescing around today’s AI darlings.

A New Standard for Chatbots and Visual Tools

The main interfaces of platforms like Lovable, ChatGPT, Gemini, Veo, etc. are shockingly stark, stripped-down, and simple. Even if you have no idea what you’re doing or if you really need this thing, you immediately know how you’re supposed to use it. Then your quick and easy outputs prove why you need it.

They throw you straight into the experience with virtually zero friction. “Just type something here and have your mind blown, we’ll figure out the details later,” seems to be the new norm. When they do ask you to sign up, it’s free and takes a click or two.

They strip out any potential rub and make the first interaction feel like a win, hooking you with your “Aha!” moment before you can even think about leaving.

My dear grandmother doesn’t know what “vibe” or “coding” mean, but could she vibe code on Lovable in a minute or two? Yeah, she could. It would probably be very bad (sorry, Nana) but she could type a few sentences and get something for her troubles.

Here are some themes and tactics helping these sites turn viewers into users:

• Frictionless or deferred sign-ups: These platforms tend to hook you with output before asking for a credit card. By the time you’re prompted to pay, the platform already has its hooks in you.
• Zero-education interfaces: They remove intimidation for first-timers by skipping the jargon and onboarding tours. There’s usually a single input field in a familiar search bar format, accompanied by easy-to-digest, human-sounding copy.
• Guided “first wins”: These platforms lower the cognitive load by showing suggestions, templates, or sample outputs from others, so users don’t have to think about how to take that first big step.
• Instant feedback: Rapid output delivers an instant dopamine hit that we’re well-documented suckers for. And with highly visual platforms like Sora, Midjourney, or Veo, the outputs are eye-catching and shareworthy.
• Dead-simple CTAs: “Type here” or “Upload a file” or “Paste your text” puts an easy-to-follow breadcrumb right in front of users without overwhelming them.
• Freemium plans: They’ll give you a taste of the real thing without making you pay a dime. Only when you want to cross a certain threshold of credits, time, or quality do they put a price tag on it.
• Lightning-fast Time To First Value (TTFV): By providing value (or the “Aha moment” below) so rapidly, these sites create instant momentum, making it far more likely you’ll engage and convert.

Some Other Interesting Examples

Plenty of other AI-forward or AI-enabled businesses are leaning into instant interactivity and quick wins to remove roadblocks and boost retention. Below are two creative examples:

​Replit uses a Mad Libs-esque approach for app creation, where the homepage asks first-timers to fill in the blanks on three input fields: type of project, who it’s for, and what it does. This works because it collapses the intimidating “Where do I start?” moment into a playful, low-effort interaction that personalizes the output and gets users involved before asking for an email.

​Creati conveys their value in a modular, highly interactive flowchart that begs for you to click on it. You can choose your model, featured object/product, and scene. Within seconds, the output updates to reflect your choices, showing you the exact value they bring.

Psychology of the Free Sample

The more I thought about this approach, the more I realized it’s essentially the digital cousin of the Costco free sample, on steroids. Free samples are a notoriously effective tactic at retail, as one industry study of grocery stores showed samples driving product purchases by 2000%.

The chart below shows just how effective free samples can prove to be across product categories (in real life, at least). Even a “laggard” like beer still sees a staggering 71% sales increase after engaging in free sampling.

Free samples work in supermarkets for similar reasons why they work on homepages:

• Instant gratification: Quick, rewarding outputs deliver that same hit of “I got something” like you get from a sugary chocolate chip cookie quadrant.
• Lowered sense of risk: Once you taste it, you know whether you like it or not. So when a site/experience gives you something you like, it’s easier to justify further engagement or payment.
• Reciprocity drives action: While this is likely stronger in an in-person situation, a no-questions-asked free trial/freemium subscription comes across to me as more endearing than the pay-first option.
• Higher awareness: Once you’re exposed to a brand or business, they’re more likely, on average, to be in your consideration set. Of course a positive, hands-on experience can make it even more familiar and memorable.

When I said “...on steroids.” earlier, I was hinting at the attribute that makes this “sampling” even more powerful: bespoke outputs. Because a free sample of baklava is great. No complaints.

But a free sample of exactly what you’re craving (a Philly cheesesteak for me right now) cooked in seconds and served hot? One nibble of that, and I’m 100% reaching for my wallet to buy the footlong. Being able to generate these unique, personal outputs at scale is now possible through AI.

Takeaway: Be Interactive and Instant

Today’s best homepages and landing pages grease users up, so they can glide through progress and achieve gratification (or “first value”) before they can blink.

Sure, yours might not be as simple as a prompt field, but when you aim to make a user’s first steps just as inviting, obvious, and rewarding as these masterful AI juggernauts, your conversion rate will act accordingly. (P.S. if you want deeper guidance on your CRO and landing page optimization, the Growth Program 2.0 will cover that in spades).

If your site’s first impression doesn’t have an interesting “hook” above the fold (more on that here), or it asks people to work too hard (decoding jargon, stumbling through sign-up, guessing the action they should take, etc.) you’re turning people off. And this gap is only getting more pronounced with frictionless AI tools becoming so ubiquitous.

While user behavior has always echoed the sentiment of “Don’t make me think,” it might be heading toward a place of, “Make me something.”

​Gil Templeton​
Demand Curve Staff Writer