The $300M Lesson: Why “Doing Less” Can Optimize User Experience

Key Takeaways:

• Small UX changes can create massive business impact.

• Friction hides in “standard” patterns teams stop questioning.

• Cognitive load, not price, is often why users abandon checkout.

• Subtraction usually outperforms adding new features.

• To optimize user experience, clarity and ease matter more than design polish.

If you think doing more is the solution, read this. One of the biggest UX wins in history didn’t come from a redesign.

It came from removing one button.

And the crazy part?

Everyone on the team thought the flow was “totally fine.”

The Hidden Drop-Off No One Questioned

A huge retailer was losing customers at checkout — millions of abandoned carts, and no one could explain why.

The checkout looked completely normal:

• ✔️ Email

• ✔️ Password

• ✔️ Login

• ✔️ Register
  

We've all seen it. We've all used it.

It felt “standard,” which is exactly why nobody questioned it.

But users hated it.

What Customers Actually Felt

First-time buyers:

“I’m not here to create an account. I just want to buy something.”

Returning buyers:

“What email did I use?”“Why won’t my password work?”“Ugh… forget it.”

The data was brutal:

• 160,000 password resets a day

• 75% never came back to finish the purchase
  

Not because the product was bad.Not because the price was wrong.Not because the user changed their mind.

Because the UX was exhausting.

The Simple Fix That Helped Optimize User Experience

So the team tried something incredibly simple:

• ❌ Removed the Register button

• ✅ Added a Continue button

With one message:

“You don’t need an account to buy. Create one later if you want.”

That was it.

The result?

• +45% more completed checkouts

• $300M in the first year
  

All from removing a moment of friction people had stopped questioning.

The Real Takeaway

Sometimes the biggest win isn’t adding more.

It’s removing the thing that never needed to be there in the first place.

What’s the little thing that frustrates you most when you’re checking out online?

If someone on your team needs this reminder, share it.