I've been working on a UX/Conversion Optimization blog post and was doing some research on web design across different verticals and business types. As you start to look around, you'll see specific details emerge to meet the needs of different verticals and business models.
With every UX project, same applies to anything in sales and marketing, a little bit of audience research and understanding will go a long way to defining the best path forward for your design. Ask target users in 1:1 sessions to share the kinds of evaluation questions they want to ask of the product and their expectations. Listen for the hierarchy of the information, what's prioritized, and the specific language they're using. For an FS client project this research helped us define a simple decision tree to build into the site UX that led visitors down different paths based on their specific challenges/wants. It delivered 125% of target annual performance in the first six months.
I also recommend looking at several sites across categories to get a feel for how brands build experiences for different business models and audiences. The focus for that business model will come through loud and clear. Here are some examples to look at side by side:
CPG vs DTC: checkout traditional CPG sites like Church and Dwight or CLR and their associate brand pages vs DTC or more digital native brands like Trumans or Method Home. You see that the older CPG sites are more informational and drive to retail with the "where to buy" prompts. And the more digital native w/ or pure DTC brands put purchase paths front and center.
eComm vs Retail Clothing: another great example is ASOS vs Gap. ASOS, as a more digital native and eComm brand shows a much cleaner and focused UX to smooth the path to digital purchase. Gap however just feels more like a traditional retailer with the plastered coupons front and center, along with a general feeling that digital purchases are secondary to the retail channel.
Consumer Banking: take a look at N26 vs Chase or Wells Fargo too. You'll see a completely different UX from N26 as the digital native. mobile focused brand that's ACQ focused since they just launched here in the US. And the older traditional banks like Chase and Wells definitely have that more cluttered UX that's indicative of an internal tension for old vs new tech, products, customers, etc.
Software: this is one vertical where I think most people are up to speed with decent best practices across the board. I haven't found any glaring instances of horrible UX yet. Look at your top of mind software companies and you'll likely see very clear UX patterns emerge. This is especially true with homepages for new visitors and brands focused on heavy user ACQ. Personally, I like Webflow and Trello as consistent examples of good UX.
As for bad examples, agencies and restaurants have historically been consistent offenders with the worst UX out there. TBWA and Ogilvy are keeping the streak alive today.
Hope this helps. And feel free to ping me if you have other questions or want to talk through some ideas.
