The Button
Office - Tuesday - 11:47 AM
Markus walks in with two cups. He sets one on Nina’s desk. She doesn’t look up.
Markus: Pour-over. Single origin. Guatemala.
Nina: Mm.
Markus: You’re supposed to taste the citrus notes.
Nina: Mm.
He looks at Nina’s screen. Then at the seventeen tabs. Then back at her screen.
Markus: What are we looking at?
Nina: The button.
Markus: ..., ...
Markus: What button?
Nina: The signup button. On the landing page.
Markus: The one that says “Get Started”?
Nina: That’s the problem.
THE PROBLEM
Markus: It’s a button.
Nina: It’s the first interaction. The user sees this button and makes a decision — not just about clicking, but about us. About whether we’re trustworthy.
Markus: It says “Get Started.”
Nina: Exactly. “Get Started” implies a journey. A process. Effort. What if they don’t want a journey? What if they just want the thing?
Markus: Then they click the button and get the thing.
Nina: But they don’t know that. They see “Get Started” and they think: how many steps? Is there a credit card form? The button is making a promise we haven’t defined.
Markus sits down. He’s going to be here a while.
Markus: What are the alternatives?
THE ALTERNATIVES
Nina’s Apartment - 3:14 AM - (The Previous Night)
Nina’s laptop glows in the dark. Chet Baker plays. “Almost Blue.”
A Markdown note titled “CTA Button Research” has 47 bullet points.
- "Get Started" — implies journey, process (anxiety-inducing?)
- "Sign Up" — transactional, cold, reminds users of spam
- "Try It Free" — the word "free" triggers suspicion (what's the catch?)
- "Start Free Trial" — "trial" implies it will end, creates deadline anxiety
- "Join" — join what? A cult? A newsletter? Too vague
- "Create Account" — bureaucratic, reminds people of passwords
- "Let's Go" — who is "us"? Parasocial? Presumptuous?
- "Begin" — pretentious, sounds like a meditation app
- "Enter" — enter what? The matrix? A contest?
...She opens a new tab. Searches: “psychology of button microcopy.”
Another tab. “Conversion rate CTA wording studies.”
Another. “History of ‘Submit’ button UX evolution.”
THE SHIP
Office - Tuesday - 11:52 AM
Nina: Did you know the word “Submit” comes from Latin? Submittere. To place under, to lower, to yield. We’re literally asking users to yield to us.
Markus: We’re not using “Submit.”
Nina: No, but the point is — language carries weight. Historical weight. “Get Started” sounds neutral but it’s actually loaded with assumptions about user motivation and—
Markus: Here’s what we’re going to do. We pick one. Right now. We launch with it. If it’s wrong, we change it.
Nina: But—
Markus: Pick.
Nina: ..., ...
Nina: “Get Started.”
Markus: Why?
Nina: Because it’s what everyone uses. Users have expectations. Meeting expectations reduces friction. Maybe boring is fine.
Markus: Ship it.
Nina hits reload.
The page loading animation appears.
Nina: What if—
Markus: Wait.
The page loads.
“Get Started” sits there, green and waiting.
Markus: See! It looks great! I’m off to a meeting with the guy I told you about - they would be a great early adopter. Seeya!
Nina smiles and closes the research tabs. Markus’s gone.
She grabs the coffee and opens a new tab.
Searches: “spinner vs progress bar - how to best communicate loading state”
— END OF EPISODE —