Toronto Cupcake Co. is a Toronto-based business that delivers delicious gourmet cupcakes. They've been operating for 11 years and mainly target business meetings, birthdays, and weddings.
Toronto Cupcake was created by Michelle Harrison. You can learn more here.
Before
✅ Attractive offer
These cupcakes look mouthwateringly AMAZING. The website should match the cupcakes, wouldn't you agree?
✅ First in search!
They are search result #1 when I search “Toronto cupcakes”!
In fact, they rank on the first page for a lot of great keywords.
❌ Are you selling packaging or cupcakes?
A nice close-up shot of any of your cupcakes would be more effective than showing the packaging. Show, don't tell.
❌ Never say "welcome"
Truth is, users don't really care about greetings and small talk.
As a user, I would have 2 major questions when I get to this page:
Poor image quality hurts credibility. Users assume that the quality of your digital presence and your offer are directly proportional.
Do your offer justice by ensuring it is well represented as well as big and prominent.
❌ Where's the mood?
Every layout has an informational message and a feeling message. This layout lacks a feeling message which is created with typography, balance, color and visual interest.
❌ Inconsistent alignment
Consistent alignment creates order (which is visually satisfying for users) and provides viewers with consistent visual reference points making scannability and content consumption much easier.
❌ Make important information visually prominent
Out of sight, out of mind. Users know that their options are endless. They will not hesitate to abandon the page if what they need isn't immediately visible.
❌ Next steps?
How do you want users to take action? What do you want them to do next?
❌ Weak first impression
They should take advantage of all this organic traffic (undoubtedly bringing in lots of new users) by leveraging the Aesthetic-Usability effect. This is especially important given the fact that the purchasing experience happens exclusively on the website (this is not a brick and mortar business).
An aesthetic layout is one that communicates what users need to know in a scannable manner and makes users feel something through visual language.
Make learning more about delivery visually prominent
Strengthen the informational message
Make the information scannable
Higher quality prominent imagery of the offer
Give the layout a mood
1) Cupcakes previewed and accessible
Users can either quickly cycle through some featured cupcakes using this slider or hit the "Cupcakes" call-to-action to view all cupcakes and obtain more details.
2) Learn more about delivery as a secondary CTA
Surely, users will want to get more details on delivery cost and time, so I took it out of the hamburger menu and made it immediately visible.
3) Replaced "Toronto Cupcake" and "Welcome" with a stronger headline
An inspiring & attention-grabbing headline that leads into what users can actually do on the site (via the buttons underneath).
4) The most important content is now visible at a glance, and neatly grouped
Reducing content density through grouping makes a layout scannable and easy to consume and navigate for viewers.
I’ve learned that no amount of coaching, fancy apps, “creativity hacks & tips” etc, will make up for:
Subpar sleep
Low vitamin D3 (lack of direct sunlight exposure)
Lack of movement (sports, resistance training, cardio)
Poor diet (macro and micronutrients)
Nonexistent stress management
Get these right first.
They are the highest impact things you can do.
Ignoring these is like a student ignoring the fundamental concepts needed to ace an exam and instead focusing on color-coding their notes, using fancy study apps, and organizing their study space with intricate decorations.
Master the basics. Everything else falls into place.
Most nonfiction books should've been 1000-word articles.
I find myself abandoning a lot of books right around the 25-30% mark.
Not because they're bad, but because I fully get the gist by that point and it's right around when the repetition of examples and ideas begins.
I'm okay with abandoning a book midway now. Just a couple years ago, I would power through the whole thing in fear of missing out on some crucial ideas in the later chapters.
Now, I just have fun with it. If it piques my interest, great – I'll buy it, read the chapters that seem interesting, get what I came for and move onto the next one.
I think a lot of these authors are just trying to meet some sort of quota. I dunno.
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