Background
Picture this: You tell an AI what website you want, and POOF! ✨ 20 seconds later, it appears like magic! That's what we set out to do with Butternut. Our squad (5 designers + 1 super-excited CEO) jumped into this wild ride to make website building feel less like rocket science and more like having a conversation with your tech-savvy friend.
Houston, we have numbers 📊
300,000 awesome humans tried Butternut (yay!)
But only 15% hit that magical "Publish" button (hmm... 🤔)
The rest? Well, let's just say their dream websites were still playing hide and seek
Detective work 🔍
Conducted a deep-dive usability investigation
Spied on our competitors (legally, of course!)
Had amazing chats with 12 users who spilled ALL the tea (120+ data points)
What we discovered:
Users fell into two fascinating camps:
The Perfectionists 📝
Wrote prompts longer than their grocery lists
Triple-checked everything
Worried about getting it "just right"
The Adventurers 🎯
Threw caution to the wind
Started with two-word prompts
Expected the AI to play 20 questions
The Plot Thickens: AI Gone Wild 🤖
Before our makeover, our AI was kind of like that friend who never quite gets your hints. Users were having quite the adventure (and not the fun kind):
Writing prompts felt like trying to solve a riddle in the dark
The AI was as unpredictable as a cat on coffee
Customizing AI-generated content was like trying to solve a Rubik's cube blindfolded
Users felt like they were playing "Pin the Tail on the Website" without any directions
Operation: Make Butternut Brilliant 🌟
Editor Makeover
Picture our old editor like a game of "Where's Waldo?" 🔍 We had this sneaky toolbar playing hide-and-seek at the top, and other tools would pop up like surprise party guests whenever you hovered over different parts of your website.
Before Redesign:
We fixed this by creating two simple tool categories:
Universal tools: Edit your entire site at once
Contextual tools: Edit specific elements like text, images, and sections
Now everything's exactly where you'd expect it to be - no treasure map needed! 🎯✨
After Redesign:
We:
Organized tools like Marie Kondo would
Made buttons that actually look clickable (revolutionary, right?)
AI Friend, Not Foe
We transformed our AI from "friend who doesn't get hints" to "helpful creative buddy" by:
Adding prompt suggestions (because sometimes we all need a little inspiration)
Creating a chat interface that feels like texting your designer friend
Making the AI less "beep boop" and more "hey, what about this?"
Design Magic ✨
Because nobody wants their website looking like their neighbor's, we:
Supercharged our theme options
Built a fancy new component library
Made sure every website could rock its own unique style
The Plot Twist 🎭
Halfway through, we realized the client didn't have a proper design system (oops!) so we:
Created component documentation that designers actually want to read
Built patterns that make sense
Laid foundations stronger than a triple-shot espresso
The Results Are In! 📈
We tested our new creation with 6 brave souls, and:
Users stopped getting lost in the editor (victory!)
The AI became everyone's new BFF
Websites started looking uniquely awesome
Our new design received an average rating of 4.3 out of 5, a significant improvement from our initial rating of 2.7
What's Next? 🚀
We're not done yet! We're:
Watching how people use our baby in the wild
Gathering more feedback
Brainstorming new ideas like a potential "sandbox" so users can test features
Wisdom Bombs 💡
AI should be like a good DJ - helpful but not stealing the show
Simple doesn't mean boring
Users need to feel like creative directors, not button pushers
Good design systems are like good pizza - essential for happiness
Impact on Small Business Owners 🌈
We're excited about the potential impact of Butternut on small business owners. According to a 2023 study:
23.5% of small business owners don't have a website but want one
We hope Butternut can be the perfect tool for them to get a site up quickly, save money, and bring in more revenue.
P.S. No pixels were harmed in the making of this case study 😉
