WhoBuilt

Stripe Head of Design Katie Dill Reviews Startup Websites

Oct 1, 2024· 21 min· 95K views·Watch on YouTube

Speakers

Katie Dill, Stripe’s head of design, reviews startup websites with Y Combinator host Ain Epstein at Stripe’s offices.

Meo Health: lead with clarity

Dill says Meo’s opening feels foreboding and takes too long to explain its health service. The long scroll and video delay the useful information, while the later description of blood work and personalized insights makes the value clearer. She recommends clarifying who the service is for, what users do, and how the steps work.

Signoz: show the product and its value

Dill praises Signoz for explaining its observability product upfront, showing a product image, and using customer logos to build credibility. She finds the dense feature text and diagrams hard to scan, and suggests making screenshots less busy. For improving clicks on “Try Signoz Cloud,” she recommends listening to target users and reviewing the whole journey, from the message that brings them to the page through signup.

Taiv: reduce visual noise

Taiv says it enhances live TV in restaurants to increase revenue, with an average partner making $2,000 per location each year. Dill sees useful information on the page but says moving backgrounds, glowing buttons, and decorative arrows add clutter. She recommends checking that the headline matches how restaurant owners describe the product, keeping grammar and capitalization consistent, and testing the mobile layout.

Metroport: make visuals earn their place

Dill finds Metroport’s healthcare data API description clear, but questions whether its abstract animations communicate the brand or product. She says the page gets busy with product cards and prominent secondary calls to action, while the demo booking is likely the primary action. She also recommends using video thumbnails that add information beyond screenshots already shown.

Amino Analytica: keep the fun, improve usability

Dill says a B2B engineering company can use playful color and visual style, but Amino Analytica’s page makes its product, audience, and problem difficult to understand. She recommends preserving the energy while improving readability and explaining why visitors should trust the company on the page. She also notes that bolded text should highlight the value, not negative examples such as trial and error.

Takeaways

  • Explain what the product does and who it serves near the top of the page.
  • Make every visual and line of copy contribute useful information.
  • Use product images and video thumbnails that help visitors understand the experience.
  • Watch first-time users navigate the full journey, from arrival through signup.
  • Keep playful design when it fits, while making the message easy to read and scan.

Mentioned in this talk

Search inside this talk

What was claimed 10

Related talks