What We Missed (Then Fixed)

A post-mortem we didn’t want to write — but needed to.

The Silent Glitch

Everything looked perfect in the design preview. The prototype worked, the animations felt fluid, the layout passed accessibility checks, and the client approved the handoff. We launched with a deep breath and an air of confidence.

Then silence.

No complaints.
But no reactions either.

That’s when we knew something was off.

The Pain of Ignoring the Gut

Analytics didn’t lie. Users were dropping off just seconds into the experience. Not on the first scroll, but just before they could even start scrolling.

We’d made a mistake. A simple one — the hero section was so minimal, so “aesthetic,” that it failed to signal that there was more.
No scroll indicator. No anchor. No friction. Just a stunning screen that looked like… a landing.

We missed it because we’d grown too close. And worse, we didn’t listen to that inner nudge: “Should we test this with someone who hasn’t seen it before?”

Fixing It the Right Way

We added a subtle animated cue — a bouncing scroll indicator, accompanied by a faint parallax reveal when users hovered. A micro-interaction, barely visible, but powerful.

Within hours of pushing the update, the drop-off rate improved. By day three, scroll depth doubled.

The fix didn’t scream. It just worked.

What It Taught Us

Design isn’t just what you see — it’s what users understand without asking. A good experience doesn’t need a manual.

And most importantly? Silence is not always a green light. Sometimes, silence is a user walking away.

So now, we test early. We test quiet moments. And we never again underestimate the damage a missing scroll cue can do.