Change is necessary, in both life and business.

Customers frequently change what they want, what they like, and how they behave online. As marketers, we’re particularly aware of this as we update and improve our ad copy and creatives to keep the attention of our audiences.

So why aren’t companies doing the same with their User Experiences?

Here's what typically happens when a company decides to work on their website:

1. The marketing team or leadership gets bored of the current website.
2. The redesign process starts and a new website is launched.
3. Only the content gets updated.
4. The website is left alone until someone decides they’re bored again.

But redesigning a website can be risky.

‍
The story of Digg

Digg launched in 2004 and pioneered social bookmarking and was a pillar of web 2.0. Users could discover, share, and vote on content. At it's peak, it was estimated to have over 30 million month active users. Digg was well funded, had first-mover advantage and had a great team behind it.

Digg was valued at $160 million. But it ended up being sold for $500,000.

‍What happened?

In 2010, Digg made the controversial decision to overhaul its entire platform, from UX to backend systems. The move fundamentally changed how content was discovered and voted upon.

The entire user base hated the changes. But Diggs leadership team didn't budge. Instead of listening to the feedback, they dug deeper and refused to budge. They made the changes based on their own opinions, not on the needs of their users.

So in revolt, users migrated to a lesser-known platform at the time called Reddit.

And the rest is history. Reddit is the 4th most popular social network, valued at $5 billion. As for Digg? Diggs dead.

Reddit has largely stayed unchanged for many years. Instead of major overhauls to the design, they adopted a test-measure-learn approach, for smaller, incremental improvements over time. They took a customer-centric approach. When they did do redesigns, they took on user feedback. Even if some users hated the new designs, they provided a way for users to access the old experience.

And this is why User Experience / Customer Experience is important. Listen to your customers. Serve them.

It's why you exist as a business.