What’s the value in a logo?
It’s a question that’s been asked a lot lately, especially with companies like Instagram, Uber, and Google drawing both ire and admiration from their new logo changes.
We all have an opinion (some have strong opinions) on these changes, but no one really measures their effectiveness – which is what matters really.
How do we answer the question: is your logo actually working?
![Testing the Presenter’s Paradox – Do People Really Average (Not Sum) Object Values? [Original Research]](https://cxl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/DSL-w-freebie-320x160.jpg)
This study examines people’s tendencies to average, not sum, values of items in a list or presented as package deals.
We provide 3 perspectives: 1. we outline what products and lists two academic studies have tested, 2. we duplicate a product and list test with a larger sample size to try and replicate the findings, and 3. we then apply the test to six new products, three experiential products (travel package, hotel night, massage) and three physical products (camera, printer, kitchen mixer).
![UX Benchmarking: What Good Is It for Conversion Optimization? [Original Research]](https://cxl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Screen-Shot-2016-11-16-at-10.39.16-AM-320x160.png)
Competitive analysis is an important element of business strategy.
Knowing where you stand in relation to competitors helps define product positioning, channel acquisition, messaging, and more.
But what good is it looking at your competitors specifically in regards to testing and optimization?
![How Do Famous Founder Photos Affect Website Credibility? [Original Research]](https://cxl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Screen-Shot-2016-07-15-at-12.26.55-PM-1-320x160.jpg)
In this CXL Institute study, we explore how general perceptions of a website are affected by the use of a “human authority image” (a picture of a company’s founder, or maybe just a photo of a person presumably representing the company) on an agency website homepage.
![We Quantified the UX of 5 Bike Websites. Here's What We Learned. [Original Research]](https://cxl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/photo-1470299067034-07c696e9ef07-1-320x160.jpg)
Your design team likely thinks your website is number one compared to your competitors, but a quantified UX benchmark might tell you differently.
We all have our opinions on what good design looks like, but quantifying that and comparing it to competitors, really shows where you stand. Once you know that, you can take action based upon the insights.
This article outlines a UX benchmark study we conducted in partnership with Jeff Sauro and his team over at MeasuringU. We studied five road bike websites. We learned a lot in doing so, and you’ll certainly find some instant takeaways from our insights.
![Checkout Optimization: How Do Trust Seals Affect Security Perception? [Original Research]](https://cxl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/brooklinen-norton-jpg_seenmap-320x160.jpg)
This study, conducted through CXL Institute, is the first of a two-part series exploring security perceptions on checkout pages. We compare the effectiveness of six popular trust badges on an actual checkout page.
![Which Site Seals Create The Most Trust? [Original Research]](https://cxl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/trust_seals-320x160.jpg)
When internet users share private information, they want to feel safe doing so.
One of the most popular ways to convey security on a website is by using trust badges (also referred to as “trust logos” or “site seals”).
This study, conducted by CXL Institute, expands on existing research from Baymard Institute’s research in 2013 to better understand the popularity and efficacy of various trust badges online.
![Which Type of Voice Actor Should You Use for Your Explainer Video? [Original Research]](https://cxl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Capture-320x160.jpg)
When designing the landing page for CXL Institute, we conducted an experiment regarding our explainer video.
We wanted to find out how “trustworthy” and “attractive” different voices were perceived. In this CXL Institute study, we tested four different voices, which differed by gender and whether they were professional voice actors or not.
Question is, did it make a different in how people perceived our video content? Yes, and the results were somewhat surprising.
![Which Types of Social Proof Work Best? [Original Research]](https://cxl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/socialproofpic-1-320x160.jpg)
When shopping online, you can’t hold the product, test it out, or talk to a salesperson about how different brands compare to one another. For these scenarios, social proof is frequently used to guide shoppers towards the best product choice.
Which brings us to the real question: Which social proof techniques are most effective? Are some of them totally ineffective?
This study from CXL Institute explores how different forms of social proof are perceived (with eye-tracking), and then how they are recalled (with post-task survey questions).
![How Does Product Copy Format Affect User Engagement? [Original Research]](https://cxl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/study3_aoi_figure-320x160.jpg)
Product page copy is something that, generally, gets ignored.
Not just the content, but how it is formatted.
In this 3 part study from CXL Institute on eCommerce product pages (part 1 here, and part 2 here), we wanted to explore how elements of a product page affect users’ visual and value perceptions.
This experiment looks at how users view a page and read product text descriptions when the text format changes.