Designing for humans (not funnels, not personas)

We’ve been thinking a lot about what it actually means to design for people — like, actual people.

Not “target audiences” or “user segments” or “this-is-Marketing-Mary-who-has-three-pain-points.”

Just… humans. On the other side of a screen. Tired, curious, distracted, hopeful. Looking to figure something out or solve a problem — maybe just feel a little less stuck.

And honestly? The whole B2B vs. B2C thing starts to feel kind of beside the point.
Everything we make is H2H — human to human.

Let’s talk about the real problem

We’ve all landed on those websites.

You know the ones:

“Leverage scalable cloud-based optimization frameworks for enterprise agility at scale.”

Cool. No idea what you do.

So many products — especially in SaaS or health or B2B-anything — default to copy that sounds smart but feels off. It’s been this way since that one Drift/ChatGPT CEO quote in 2017.

We get it. There’s pressure to “sound legit.”
But somewhere along the way, it stops being about the person on the other end. And starts being about impressing… well, we don’t know who. Your Series A board?

We’ve seen it, over and over:

• Teams who know their product is good
• Users who would benefit from it
• A site that’s accidentally working against both of them

That gap? That’s what we’re trying to close.

What we’ve tried (and still try)

We don’t have a secret sauce. But we do have a few rituals.

• We start every project by asking, “What would make this feel good to use?” Not “what features do we need to add?” but “what would actually help someone here?”
• We try to write for eyeballs on phones — not wireframes. Just layouts? Meh. A button can say “Book now” or “Let’s do this.” One gets clicked more.
• We put ourselves in the moment. Imagine: you’re wheezing, on your phone, trying to book allergy treatment.
  Do you want a CTA that says “Submit intake form” or one that just says “Get help now”?

It’s not about sounding friendly for the sake of it.
It’s about building trust. Being real. Making sure no one needs a translator to use the damn thing.

What seems to be working (for now)

We’ve started using this one question as a filter in projects:
Would you say this out loud to a friend?

If not — it probably needs a rewrite.

This one shift has helped us simplify messaging, rethink button text, and design flows that actually flow. It’s the difference between a UI that says “Upload Document” vs. one that says “Add your file here” — we’ll handle the rest.

Some other things we’ve been leaning into:

• Interfaces that feel like invites, not interrogations
• Content that works with you, not at you
• Systems that scale without leaking warm vibes (yes, it’s possible)

Ultimately, Webflow’s just the tool.
The mindset matters more: build like it’s for someone you actually like — because someone’s going to use it.

Still figuring stuff out

Here’s what we’re still chewing on:

• How do we keep that H2H spirit alive when we’re designing really complex products?
• What’s the balance between “plainspoken” and “oversimplified”?
• And how do we stay warm and human in fast-paced, async client work — where Slack is basically the main character?

No perfect answers (yet). But we’re trying things. Swapping copy. Testing flows. Checking in: does this feel good to move through? And always asking: “Would I actually use this?”

Wrapping it up

At the end of the day, designing for humans isn’t radical. It’s just… respectful.

The best tools don’t lecture you. The best interfaces don’t need a manual.
They guide you, support you, and get out of the way when they should.

So that’s what we’re aiming for:
Design that feels like someone thought about you before you showed up.
Because they did.