Proving the Value of Brand Expression
How to test the business impact of photography, copy, helpful content, and design craft.
The case for testing “inspiration,” not just funnels
Most of our testing time goes to the obvious: faster flows, reduced noise, fewer checkout hiccups. Necessary — but incomplete. Between “I’m curious” and “I’m ready,” people loop through exploration and second-guessing. That’s where inspiration can be the differentiator. Photography that shows context, quality, and possibilities. Copy that touts outcomes and lowers risk. Helpful content that demonstrates expertise and answers the question on a buyer’s mind. Clean, confident design that reps the brand. Together, they build trust and momentum.
This isn’t about making pages “prettier.” It’s about making decisions easier and building confidence. In this piece we’ll keep the stats light and the practice heavy: where to test first, what to measure (attention, confidence, and momentum), how to run simple A/Bs with holdouts, and how to keep performance solid while you raise the creative bar.
Table of Contents
What we mean by “inspiration”
Best surfaces to start testing on
What to measure (beyond CVR + AOV)
How to design the experiments
Practical test ideas designers can run
Reading results (+ business case)
Keep inspiration fast (and accessible)
A simple 2-week rhythm
Sources & (designer-friendly) reading
What we mean by “inspiration” (so we can measure it)
Photography that adds information: context-of-use, details, and visualization — not decoration.
Copy that clarifies outcomes, reduces risk, and matches how people actually read online. Make it scannable and concrete.
Helpful content like size/fit tools, “which plan is right for me?” guides, short explainer sections, or comparison tables — placed near the decision, not buried.
UI design that lowers visual noise, respects familiar patterns and is consistent with marketing look and feel. Consistency is key.
Best surfaces to start testing branding & content
If you can’t test everywhere at once, start where decisions crystallize:
Product/detail experiences (PDPs and equivalents). This is where images, copy, and proof points carry outsize weight. Invest in richer galleries (context, scale, zoom/360, video, augmented reality) and precise copy near the media. Baymard Institute’s multi-year work shows how much PDP clarity drives decision-making.
Category/solution landing. Use inspiration to frame “Why this category and not another” (use-case imagery, plain-English benefits, quick comparison). It’s the bridge from browsing to shortlisting — and often under-resourced compared with the homepage.
Homepage hero & first screen. Great for first impressions; just make sure you measure downstream assists (did the new hero increase qualified product exploration, not just clicks?).
Brand story / About page / editorial hubs. Treat these as mid-funnel accelerators, not vanity pages. People buy when they trust; current consumer data keeps linking trust with purchase, loyalty, and advocacy.
Checkout reassurance. Small copy and micro-illustrations that reaffirm delivery, returns, warranties, and security — protect the wins as you earn them.
What to measure (beyond CVR and AOV)
Keep it simple and honest. You’re trying to see whether inspiration creates attention, confidence, and momentum — without breaking performance.
Don’t expect every inspiration test to spike same-session conversion.
1) Attention & interaction (on-page)
Engaged time (exclude idle time).
Module reach & scroll: % of users who reach the gallery, story block, or comparison table.
Media interactions: image expands/zoom, gallery swipes, video quartiles.
Copy interactions: accordion opens, “read more,” comparison toggles.
Designers: the goal isn’t “more time” but meaningful time that leads to a clearer choice. Nielsen Norman Group reminds us engagement isn’t a single number — use a small set of relevant signals.
2) Confidence (quick pulse, not a survey slog)
Single-Ease Question (SEQ) right after a decision-y action: “How easy was it to choose?” (on a scale of 1-7).
Decision confidence: “How confident do you feel about your choice?” (1–7).
These are light-touch and map well to the question you’re really asking: did the page make choosing easier?
3) Momentum (micro-conversions)
Add to shortlist/save/wishlist
Add to a compare tool
“Email me this guide” / “Talk to an expert” / store-locator or appointment clicks
These capture progress in the messy middle even when the final purchase is delayed or happens elsewhere.
4) Brand & long-cycle indicators
Repeat-visit rate (within 7 and 30 days) to the product or category
Branded search trends in Google Search Console (query impressions/clicks for your brand or hero products)
Assisted conversions and downstream revenue attribution when available
Use these to see if inspiration expands consideration, not just session-level clicks. (Google’s docs clarify how to read impressions/clicks in Search Console.)
5) Performance guardrails (non-negotiable)
Keep it fast and steady. Don’t trade speed for prettier pages. Watch your real-user data for three basics:
LCP (how quickly the main content shows) — aim ≤ 2.5s
INP (how quickly the page responds to taps/clicks) — aim < 200ms
CLS (does the layout jump around?) — aim < 0.1
Hit those targets for at least 75% of users.
Note: Interaction to Next Paint is the new responsiveness metric that replaced First Input Delay in 2024.
How to design the experiments (without overcomplicating it)
Start with classic A/B/n. One inspirational change per test: a new image set, a re-written hero, an added explainer block. Pre-declare the primary metric and the guardrails above.
Add holdouts when you go wide. If you’re changing inspiration across many surfaces or running an always-on editorial hub, use holdouts to read real lift amidst market noise.
Use “brand-lift” style studies sparingly but helpfully. For big creative shifts (new photography system, brand story revamp), measure recall, consideration, and ad recall via platform lift or onsite surveys with exposed vs. control.
Bandits later, not first. Bandits are great once you know inspiration matters on that surface and want to auto-allocate toward better variants. Use fixed-split A/B for the first read so you learn the true effect size.
Practical test ideas designers can run this quarter
Photography
Context & scale: Replace sterile silos or packshots with real-world scenes and “in-scale” references (hands, people, objects). Track gallery interactions + add-to-cart/favorite after viewing.
Detail clarity: Add a tight detail shot (materials, texture) for products where touch/quality is a question.
Order of images: Lead with the most goal-relevant shot (context, not just the prettiest). Measure reach to secondary shots.
Copy
Outcome-led headlines: “Sleep cool without sacrificing support” vs. “Our new model X9.” Pair with one proof point and one next step.
Risk reduction near the decision: Warranty, returns, sustainability, or craftsmanship — short, plain, specific. Trust grows when content is comprehensive and current.
Helpful content
Quick-compare or “which is right for me?” Give people just enough to choose, then link to detail.
Micro-explainers beside complex specs (“What does ‘solid-wood frame’ mean for longevity?”). Place visuals next to the relevant text to reduce cognitive load.
Design craft
Visual hierarchy cleanup: Reduce decorative noise, tighten spacing, and align with familiar patterns for the category. Aim for quick scanning, not maximal novelty.
Reading results (and making a case your CFO will respect)
Don’t expect every inspiration test to spike same-session conversion. Instead, build a small Inspiration Scorecard for each surface:
Reach & interaction: module views, engaged time, image/video interactions
Confidence: SEQ & decision-confidence delta
Momentum: micro-conversions (shortlists, comparisons, appointments)
Performance guardrails: LCP/INP/CLS stable or improved
Downstream signals: repeat-visit rate and brand/search trends over 2–4 weeks
When a variant wins on 1–3 and keeps 4 green, promote it — and schedule a follow-on A/B that’s closer to purchase (e.g., PDP → cart progression) to demonstrate business pull-through. That two-step pattern is often what turns design craft from “nice” into “valuable.”
Keep inspiration fast (and accessible)
Richer media shouldn’t punish users on slower devices. Use modern formats and a lightweight system:
Image handling: next-gen encodes, responsive sizes, lazy-load below the fold, pre-connect for CDNs.
Video: short, captioned, and silent by default with explicit play; defer noncritical embeds.
Core Web Vitals: watch your field data and keep the thresholds; INP is the new responsiveness standard.
Accessibility: descriptive alt text on key images; pair visuals with short, clear text (Google’s “helpful, people-first content” guidance aligns here).
A simple 2-week rhythm (so this actually happens)
Week 1: Pick one surface and one inspirational lever. Draft creative and copy; define a tiny plan (primary + guardrails).
Week 2: Launch the test; watch performance; collect SEQ/decision-confidence pulses.
Friday recap: 10-minute readout with visuals and a one-slide scorecard. Decide: promote / iterate / archive.
Then move to the next surface. (Keep holdouts for bigger rollouts or when market noise is high.)
Final thought for design leaders
When you test inspiration, you’re not defending taste — you’re reducing decision friction in the messy middle. Start with one surface, one lever, and a humane scorecard. Keep it fast, keep it honest, and let the evidence show how craft converts.
Sources & further (designer-friendly) reading
“Messy middle” research (Google)
The aesthetic-usability effect and using information-carrying images (NN/g)
PDP and homepage/category UX priorities (Baymard)
Brand trust and purchase/loyalty links (Edelmen)
Core Web Vitals thresholds (Google) and the 2024 INP change (web.dev)
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I write weekly articles for designers and design leaders who want to grow their impact, lead with clarity, and build careers that actually feel sustainable.