WordPress theme designers are missing a significant chance
I’ve been involved with WordPress for many years, and I recently realized how we handle user experience could be improved.
I came across an interesting sales strategy where a shoe shop owner would only show two pairs of shoes at once. If a customer asked to see more, he would ask which one they would like him to remove first.
This approach highlights something that many WordPress developers seem to forget - too many choices can lead to users making no choice at all.
The Problems We Create
Take a look at most WordPress sites using popular themes:
- Product comparison tables that feature over 20 options
- Sidebars filled with countless recommendations
- Archive pages packed with every item available
- Several competing call-to-action buttons
Users experience decision fatigue and often leave without acting.
My Project
I built a custom theme based on the principle of
honestly, i think it’s cuz most devs dont run businesses. they’re coding for other devs, not for users needing quick decisions. seen themes with like 15 different header layouts - who needs that?? customers just want to buy stuff without getting confused.
It goes way beyond just ignoring psychology - most developers never learned conversion optimization or behavioral design. When I was freelancing, I saw developers constantly building themes that looked amazing in demos but completely ignored how real people actually use websites. We’d cram in every feature we could think of because we wanted to show off what we could build, but users just got overwhelmed. The worst part? Theme marketplaces actually reward this mess by promoting themes with tons of features, so the cycle continues. Developers rarely hear back about how users actually behave on their sites, so they never realize their fancy designs are killing conversions and frustrating people.
Developers often overlook decision-making psychology as they concentrate on technical aspects rather than user behavior. In my experience with various client sites, many include excessive features, believing that more options equate to greater value. However, without engaging with actual users, they miss the insight that too many choices can hinder conversions. I’ve learned that employing clean navigation and showcasing only a limited selection of products tends to enhance user engagement significantly. The real challenge lies in persuading clients that fewer options can lead to increased sales, which contradicts their preconceived notions of customer satisfaction.