Find out how to help your website, app, or software product
grow your business.
Tell me if this sounds familiar: You had an idea for a website, app, or software product. You built it and launched it.
But you didn’t get enough signups. You saw abandoned carts in your e-commerce store. People left your app in onboarding. Your free SaaS subscribers wouldn’t pay.
No one told you why. They just tapped Back or bought from your competitors.
If the above sounds familiar, it’s time to refocus your perspective on your product.
I Got a Large Global Company’s Intranet Web App Unstuck.
“David was outstanding to work with. He is very well versed in the UX space, but not only on making good designs but understanding the context of who are the users, what are their needs, what are the different tension points in serving different users.
“On top, he was super quick in turning around the work without compromising quality of his recommendations. I will be hiring him again, especially for my projects that are more challenging to solve.”
- a manager responsible for this product
Make Your Users Love And Promote Your Product
In one week, I can diagnose problems with your product and suggest fixes to boost your conversions, for 1/60th the cost of a typical redesign. Sound too good to be true? It’s not.
After working with over 15 companies, I’ve identified these major areas where most development shops fail:
Misunderstanding Their Audience - Who is “the user”? That often means different things to different people and changes over time.
Treating UI Development As “Easy” - When you “slap a UI on” your great technical solution, your product will look and feel that way.
Designing for the Wrong Expertise Levels - If you’re just assuming that your users are always beginners, or that they want to become power users, think again.
Misusing Analytics and A/B Tests - These will show you what is wrong but not why.
Expecting Too Much from UI Guidelines and Libraries - These don’t make your product useful or your customers happy.
Expecting Redesigns to Fix Your Sales - One third of redesign projects decrease sales. You need to find out your product’s real problems before you blow your budget.
But how can you fix these problems when staying current on new technologies is hard enough?
You don’t have time. You need to make future versions of your product better than the current one. And if you want it to improve, it needs your attention.
Cut through all the noise.
You could be doing the things that make your next release worth shipping.
Not reading more best practices for other people’s products. Or paging through an unrealistic “design inspiration” gallery.
You’d get help for your product’s next major release. This data, from someone representing your main audience, would help you escape from the subjective emotion of design meetings.
And it would lessen your product’s risk of failure in your market.
They’d usually use a teardown…
In a teardown, an expert records a screencast where they use a live product. But most teardowns have 1 of 2 big problems:
Self-centered teardowns just give you another opinion from someone who has seen a lot of websites. Your website might not even be for them.
Paint-by-numbers teardowns apply best practices without considering the unique needs of your users or your business.
A visual design and development agency owner I know had someone else do his teardown. That person told him, “Your animations add loading time. Remove them.”
A quarter of his inbound leads came from people who loved the animations! He’d lose money following that advice.
Teardowns need to consider what your business and your audience need. They need to explain what you’re not doing well, but they also need to keep your product’s strengths from slipping.
Presenting: Teardowns with a Twist.
In a Teardown with a Twist, I briefly document assumptions about your users. Then I walk through your product from their perspective. You would also get notes with key findings. The video above is a shorter, simplified example.
Optionally, you would also get a 60-minute phone or video call (not a sales call!) with me to discuss any of the following:
Your questions from the video or notes
Ways to get your product roadmap unstuck
Competitors’ products (tearing these down is very insightful!)
Anything else that can help you improve your product
How to get your Teardown with a Twist
Send me your contact info below. I’ll respond within 2 business days with a few questions about your business and product, to make sure that I can help you.
You’ll also need to give me free access to your product.
Then I’ll send you a link to pay. I don’t start teardowns without 100% upfront payment.
What happens next?
1. Research
After we connect over email, I’ll research your company and product based on your feedback and pain points.
2. Screencast
In my 20-30 minute screencast video, I’ll examine key features of your product - or areas you’re stuck on - from your users’ perspectives.
3. (optional) Strategy session
This 60-minute, confidential Ask Me Anything session on Skype, Google Hangouts, or (for people in the US) the phone helps you know what direction to go next.
4. Actionable report + ebook ($49 value)
This will highlight what we discussed and help you improve your next major release.
You’ll also get a free copy of my upcoming ebook, UX for Development Shops. I’ll suggest the best sections for you to keep improving your product.
How much does this cost?
There are 2 options:
U.S. $499 for a Teardown with a Twist and notes
U.S. $699 for this, plus a 60-minute strategy call
The prices will increase as I get more inquiries.
To reduce your risk, I offer a 100% Money-Back Guarantee for teardowns. If you follow my advice and the results disappoint you, I’ll refund your money in full.
Ready To Get The Most Out Of Your Product?
I can only commit to a few projects at a time. This lets me offer the highest level of service possible while maintaining quick turnarounds. I have availability for three new Teardown with a Twist clients per month. If you’re one of those few clients, I want to make sure you get the best possible result.
You’ll get the most out of this if:
You want us to communicate openly and honestly.
You’re willing and able to begin implementing my recommendations in your next major release.
- You can give me free access to your product. (I’m in the US, just outside DC.)
"I have some questions first..."
“You aren’t our users.”
Before the teardown, I get a quick, preliminary understanding of your target market. Then I turn that into provisional personas, representing people who would use your product, their goals, and their pain points. Lastly, I determine who would represent the best target audience for your product. (In larger projects, your users around the world would help us create a v1 or next release with more staying power.)
I do the teardowns from a dual perspective as myself and your audience. Along the way, I might encounter items that would help or hurt the provisional personas. I describe these.
“We already have personas.”
Methods to create personas vary. So I create my own for teardowns.
Why is this better than a usability study or a discount teardown?
Usability studies let you hear from potential customers. Sometimes you need to hear from an expert. Panel participants often don’t match your audience, unless you know how to set up detailed screeners.
Discount teardowns can’t do much more for you than tell you best practices. They could give you bad advice and cost you revenue because they don’t have enough time to understand your audience.
Who’s doing the teardown?
David Parmelee is a business-minded digital strategy consultant based in the eastern United States. Previously a software developer, he helps developers create web apps, websites, and mobile apps that balance the needs of users, businesspeople, and developers. His recent clients include a large global company, a mobile development studio, and a bootstrapped startup whose founder is technical.
In his first full year consulting, David was an active Top Tester on UserTesting's panel. He is also a former student of top user researchers Steve Krug and Tomer Sharon.
I have a bigger project. Can you help me?
Yep. Email David directly, and we can determine if we’re a good fit.
Five years ago,
I started off as a Top Tester on UserTesting.
Their clients gave me these reviews:
“The answers provided were very detailed and thorough, helping us understand the user journey by highlighting not only our success areas, but more importantly, our pain points.”
“Great articulation of process and even some bonus feedback. Perhaps even a UX/UI pro ;) A great help, and as good narration as we've had in any tests to date. Thanks.”
- “We would give 10 stars if we could as this feedback was extremely valuable to us. Congrats!”