7 UI/UX Mistakes That Are Costing You Conversions

Good design does not just look right — it converts. Bad design does not just look wrong — it loses you money. Here are seven mistakes we see repeatedly on client sites during audits, each one measurably reducing conversions.

1. Autoplay video backgrounds that slow the page

A hero video that adds 4MB to your page load is not a design choice — it is a performance penalty. If the video does not directly communicate your value proposition, replace it with a static image. Your LCP score will thank you, and so will mobile users on slow connections.

2. Hamburger menus on desktop

Hiding your navigation behind a menu icon on desktop screens reduces discoverability of your key pages. Users cannot click what they cannot see. Reserve hamburger menus for mobile and show your full navigation on screens wider than 768px.

3. Low contrast text

Light grey text on a white background might look elegant in your Figma file. On a sunlit laptop screen, it is unreadable. Ensure all body text meets WCAG AA contrast ratios — 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text. This is not accessibility overhead; it is basic legibility.

4. Forms that ask too much

Every field you add to a contact form reduces completions. If you are asking for company size, industry, budget range, timeline, how they heard about you and their mother's maiden name — you are running a survey, not capturing a lead. Name, email, message. That is it. Qualify later.

5. No visual hierarchy

When everything is bold, nothing is bold. When every section has the same weight, users do not know where to look. Use size, colour and spacing to create a clear hierarchy: one primary headline, one primary action, supporting content at a lower visual weight.

6. Carousels and sliders

Users interact with the first slide and ignore the rest. Anything you put on slides 2 through 5 is effectively invisible. If the content matters, give it its own section. If it does not matter, remove it.

7. Inconsistent interaction patterns

If some buttons are rounded and others are square, if some links are blue and others are green, if some cards are clickable and others are not — you are making the user think about your interface instead of your product. Consistency builds trust. Pick one pattern and use it everywhere.

The fix is not a redesign

You do not need to rebuild your site to fix these issues. A focused audit, a prioritised punch list and a few days of targeted work can lift conversion rates by 15–30%. The hardest part is admitting that the design decisions you made with good intentions might be costing you customers.