[rodyancy]

I have a feeling that 37signals has tested that page extensively. It may be that they convert better when the page designed that way.

I personally like the sparseness of www.checkoutapp.com, but that doesn't mean that 37signals' page is "too cramped." The only way to know is to test.

Look at Amazon. They have been through so many iterations and have tested so much and their pages are still too cramped for my taste. It probably make good business sense for them to design them that way.

[koenbok]

(We make checkoutapp.com)

We test, but we always put emotional arguments ("it looks better") above scientific data when it comes down to design. It's impossible to prove what gives better results in the long-term, but we would hate putting something online that doesn't look good to us. One thing I can really notice is that customers always tell us that our website/style stood out while they were evaluating the product, so it seems to work well for us.

[adamhowell]

Yeah, I'm sure you're right, and that's a post of theirs I would really love to see. Screenshots of several different versions of their homepages, from cramped to sparse, and how they all converted.

[nhebb]

I remember several years ago when 37 Signals abruptly changed their web site, The issue came up in their blog comments and was covered by Copyblogger here: http://www.copyblogger.com/the-37-signals-approach-to-copywr...

Bottom line: 37 Signals didn't do any testing. I know they've reported headline testing results, so maybe they've changed their practices.