Users spend an average of 5.59 seconds looking at a website’s written content. I don’t know about you, but it seems like there is hardly enough time to gain users’ interest, let alone relay the information you want to share — and the information they want to find.

However, following best practices, there is no reason to bombard users with an avalanche of information when they land on your homepage. While there may be a lot of great information about your business, putting it in their faces when they arrive can have the inverse effect, making users feel overwhelmed and pushing them to leave the site.

So, what is the alternative? Thoughtfully crafted messages and content aligned with the customer journey and revealed through a slow, strategic drip known as progressive disclosure.

Related: Your Online Customer Experience Is More Than a Buzzword — It’s the Backbone of Your Business. Here’s How to Optimize It.

But what is progressive disclosure?

Progressive disclosure is about strategically revealing the information a user wants or needs at the precise moment the customer wants or needs it (rather than throwing it at them upfront). This is essentially a strategic approach to planning and releasing content throughout the customer journey to maximize engagement and move a customer through the conversion funnel.

Here’s an example: If you have a product-heavy website, the navigation should direct the user through a seamless navigation. If the navigation is designed strategically to align with the customer journey, then each click is a point on the path of progressive disclosure. As users move around the site, they will slowly but surely learn more about the products and services and find the information they need. This is precisely why websites use a thoughtful navigation system based on logic and integrated into the information architecture that outlines the content and where it should be placed within the site.

Why is progressive disclosure powerful?

The simple answer is that this process is customer-centric. It focuses on what customers want to accomplish rather than what you, the business owner, want to share.

In addition, progressive disclosure accomplishes the following:

• Reduces friction: Information overload leads to confusion and decision paralysis. By presenting information relevant to the user’s immediate needs, you remove unnecessary hurdles and guide them seamlessly toward their goals.
• Boosts engagement: Curiosity thrives when there is something more to discover. As users uncover new features and functionalities, their interest remains piqued, encouraging further exploration and deeper product engagement.
• Builds trust: When users feel they’re being led, not overwhelmed, trust flourishes. Progressive disclosure shows respect for their time and attention, fostering a positive relationship between them and your product.

Related: 7 Ecommerce Customer Experience Strategies for Effective Branding in 2024

Want to rework your website so it’s aligned with your customers?

If you want to rework your website or consider how your content is aligned with your customers, here are a few considerations that will help ensure you are applying progressive disclosure principles:

• Map the customer journey. Understand the different stages users go through, from awareness to consideration, purchase and beyond. Identify their needs and pain points at each stage.
• Prioritize information. Categorize features and information based on their importance and relevance to each stage of the journey. Highlight core functionalities initially and unveil advanced features later.
• Use microlearning. Chunk information into digestible pieces, delivered through tutorials, tooltips, and interactive prompts. This makes learning effortless and avoids cognitive overload.
• Leverage visual cues. Employ clear design elements like hierarchy, icons, and animation to guide users’ attention and highlight key information.
• Gather feedback. Continuously analyze user behaviors on your site and collect feedback to understand what resonates. Use this data to identify areas for improvement and implement valuable changes.
• Use multiple touchpoints to communicate. While this strategy can be applied to a website, it applies to all digital communication channels. Most who visit your website either have a specific reason or are fact-finding. So consider using other digital channels, such as SMS and digital cards, to communicate more important (or urgent) messages in real-time.

Applying progressive disclosure isn’t just about withholding information; it’s about crafting a captivating narrative that unfolds as the user interacts with your brand. Applying this approach can foster trust, increase engagement, and ultimately create satisfied customers.

Remember, we’re not just selling products or services; we’re guiding users on a journey, and every step along the way matters. By unveiling the right information at the right time, we transform their experience from overwhelming to empowering, paving the way for sustainable success.

Dive into Swae Lee’s remarkable journey, from clocking in at Mcdonald’s to hitting the heights of the music industry. In this conversation, Swae Lee spills the secrets of his winning mindset, unwavering dedication and the vital role of genuine relationships.

More Episodes: Win Big with Clinton Sparks

Here’s a breakdown of all the things we discuss in the podcast:

The Global Impact of Entrepreneurship:

• Entrepreneurship knows no geographical boundaries. Entrepreneurs around the world are creating solutions to global challenges and contributing to a more interconnected world.

Swae Lee’s Early Aspirations:

• Swae Lee’s early aspirations were rooted in music, driven by a passion for creating and performing.
• He dreamt of making a name for himself in the music industry from a young age.
• Swae Lee’s aspirations laid the foundation for his successful music career.
• His early dreams and goals ultimately shaped his journey to stardom.
• These aspirations motivated him to work tirelessly to achieve his musical ambitions.

Hard Work and Persistence:

• Hard work and persistence have been Swae Lee’s guiding principles throughout his career.
• He firmly believes in the value of consistent effort and determination.
• Swae Lee’s success is a testament to his unwavering dedication to his craft.
• The music industry demands hard work and persistence to overcome challenges.

Overcoming Challenges for Success:

• Swae Lee has faced numerous challenges on his path to success in the music industry.
• Overcoming these challenges has made him a stronger and more resilient artist.
• Each obstacle he encountered became an opportunity for growth and improvement.
• Swae Lee’s ability to overcome challenges has contributed to his rise in the industry.
• He views challenges as stepping stones toward achieving greater success.

Networking in the Music Industry:

• Networking plays a crucial role in Swae Lee’s journey in the music industry.
• Building connections with other artists and industry professionals has been key to his success.
• Effective networking has opened doors to collaborations and opportunities.
• Swae Lee recognizes the importance of cultivating relationships to advance his career.
• In the music industry, networking is more than a skill—it’s a strategic advantage.

Navigating Relationships in the Music Industry:

• Navigating relationships in the music industry can be complex due to its competitive nature.
• Swae Lee has learned to balance personal and professional relationships to maintain success.
• Building trust and managing relationships with colleagues is essential in the industry.
• Nurturing positive connections has contributed to his career’s longevity.
• Successfully navigating relationships has allowed him to thrive in the music world.

Walgreens is the latest chain to face mass closures.

On Thursday, Walgreens announced that it would be closing a “significant” number of underperforming stores across the country.

“The current pharmacy model is not sustainable,” CEO Tim Wentworth told investors on an earnings call. “Changes are imminent.”

Related: Walgreens’ Battle Over High-Tech Cooler Doors Heats Up

Wentworth said that it would “take a hard look” at 25% of its stores over the next three years with the potential for closure, which means that 2,150 stores could be up for shutting down.

Walgreens currently operates 8,600 stores.

“The consumer is absolutely stunned by the absolute prices of things, and the fact that some of them may not be inflating doesn’t actually change their resistance to the current pricing,” Wentworth told investors. “So we’ve had to get really keen, particularly in discretionary things.”

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock plummeted over 24% in a 24-hour period upon the release of its fiscal Q3 2024 earnings, which reported $36.4 billion in revenue.

The company revealed that it was hit with a $2.7 billion bill by the IRS after the agency conducted audits and reportedly found issues with Walgreens’ transfer pricing between 2014 and 2017.

Related: Walgreens Unveils New CEO, $1 Billion Cost-Cutting Plan

“The Company intends to vigorously defend its position on the transfer pricing matter through the IRS’s administrative appeals office and, if necessary, judicial proceedings and is confident in its ability to prevail on the merits,” Walgreens said via the filing at the time.

As of Thursday afternoon, Walgreens Boots Alliance was down nearly 59% year over year.

AT&T wants the seven biggest and most profitable tech companies, namely Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla, to help subsidize Internet and telephone access in the U.S.

AT&T CEO John Stankey said on Monday at a telecoms forum that big tech companies should be required to contribute to the Universal Service Fund (USF), a federal program that spends $8 billion a year on phone, Internet, and other telecommunications services.

The fund supports lower-income customers, customers who live in rural areas, or those who reside in high-cost areas. It also brings internet and phone service to eligible schools and libraries.

“The seven largest and most profitable companies in the world built their franchises on the internet and the infrastructure we provide,” Stankey said, per a Reuters report.

“Why shouldn’t they participate in ensuring affordable and equitable access to the services of today that are just as indispensable as the phone lines of yesteryear?” he added.

^{John Stankey, AT&T CEO. Credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images}

As a telecommunications company operating in the U.S., AT&T is required to contribute to the USF.

The fund takes a percentage of AT&T’s revenues, starting at 15.5%.

AT&T charges its customers a Universal Connectivity Charge based on the USF percentage — so at the end of the day, AT&T’s customers pay an additional cost that goes towards the fund.

“In the competitive industry we are in, we cannot afford to absorb the costs associated with the USF that have been imposed on AT&T,” a company webpage reads.

Related: AT&T CEO Reveals Cause of Mass Outage, Offers Account Credit

Stankey isn’t the only AT&T executive to recently call attention to the USF fee. Earlier this month, AT&T executive vice president of federal regulatory relations Rhonda Johnson wrote that the company’s USF contribution percentage was now 34.4% — and had remained at above 30% for the past four quarters.

Johnson wrote that Congress should expand the USF’s sources of funding to “tech companies – like Meta and Google – that utilize consumer broadband connections.”

These big tech companies have profited from having Americans online and should also contribute to a reformed fund, according to Johnson.

Related: AT&T Customer Data Leaked to ‘Dark Web,’ Millions Affected

There are few guarantees in business, but this one is certain: If you don’t keep customers, you won’t have a business for long. Yet, at a time when most companies are desperately trying to maintain customer loyalty (retention is more profitable than acquisition, after all), there’s often a missing link in their efforts: Understanding the powerful connection between customer satisfaction and employee engagement — and how to unlock it.

As a Chief People Officer currently overseeing my company’s customer organization, I’ve seen first-hand how connected they truly are. At its most basic, losing customers can have a direct impact on employee morale and even lead to regrettable talent turnover. But there’s more nuance to this connection: nearly everything employees do has the potential to deeply impact customers. In turn, customer feedback and outcomes can have a powerful effect on an employee’s sense of purpose, achievement and satisfaction.

Related: 7 Surefire Ways to Turn Your Low Customer Retention Rates Around

I’ve witnessed how establishing a customer-centric approach across the entire organization can lead to growth opportunities that benefit both employees and customers. But to get there, businesses need to leverage that connection by making customer success the forefront of every employee’s experience. Here’s how.

Make customer success everyone’s responsibility

Most companies take a siloed approach to customer success, relegating it to a single department, while others remain largely insulated from customer interaction. But I’ve come to realize that the more we empower all of our cross-functional teams to contribute to customer success, the more purposeful, impactful and engaging their roles become, and the more they can drive customer loyalty and retention.

For a more holistic approach, I am a fan of the bowtie model. In contrast to the traditional marketing funnel, which ends when a customer converts, the bowtie provides a more end-to-end representation of the customer journey. It’s a better way to ensure everyone in the company is maximizing engagement with the customer over the long term — whether through strategic ongoing communication and marketing efforts or more integrated processes and practices designed to deepen this relationship.

One way we do this at my company is by encouraging every department to evaluate every task — and every ask — from the perspective of how it benefits the customer. Whether it’s marketing, sales, product or engineering, this filter is applied to all decision-making. Of course, we also look to metrics like Customer Satisfaction Score, customer retention, and revenue expansion with existing customers to ensure our efforts translate into results.

Supercharge customer touchpoints

I recently traveled overseas to meet with a customer, and as I was leaving, their CFO turned to me and said something I’ll never forget: “Don’t get me fired.” It’s a powerful reminder that our view on customer success must be broader than just ensuring product integration or stability. Everything we do has a ripple effect on their company’s success, which can impact their personal reputation, too.

The concept of radical empathy isn’t new in customer service. Cultivating a deeper understanding of customer needs is crucial for effective product development, marketing and sales, but it can easily get lost once a customer is onboarded. Building more proactive touchpoints with customers —and even baking them into the early stages of product development — can help overcome this oversight.

For us, that means attending industry events and building out strategic channels and information-sharing communities to better understand their sticking points. We’ve also established customer segments and verticals to identify and interact with the unique needs of different types of customers to deliver a personalized service approach. When we understand how customers are using our product — and particularly their pain points — we can better target everything from our marketing and sales campaigns to all product-focused initiatives

Everyone in our organization knows customer retention is a team sport. Reaching out to customers to help solve product issues or when launching something new is not only possible but preferable. That’s precisely why we launched a customer retention program that treats flight risks as a pipeline and leverages tightly coordinated collaboration across departments to deliver impact to those customers.

Most importantly, these frequent and proactive touchpoints also allow us to learn what is working for our customers, which we’ve seen be a powerful motivator for our team.

Related: 3 Ways Founders Can Connect With Their Customers to Drive Sales

Don’t overlook the link between employee experience and customer experience

Being on the receiving end of an exceptional customer experience can radically shift the way we perceive a business. It turns out that when an employee has a hand in making that happen, it can be just as impactful for them.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise: today’s employees are looking for purpose in their work. Who doesn’t want to make a difference in the lives of others? Connecting this desire to customer success initiatives only makes sense — it improves the ability to deliver on customer promises and makes the workplace more satisfying for all.

And I believe organizations can take this connection a step further: pouring the same energy into employee experience that they do in fulfilling customers. In one of my previous roles, we would actively measure customer retention against employee retention and found a strong correlation between the two. These results were interesting but not shocking: prioritizing employee experience leads to more engaged employees, who, in turn, are motivated to create better customer experiences. Simply put, boosting satisfaction in one camp can effectively raise retention and productivity levels for both.

Of course, this balance isn’t always easy to get right. But in my experience, incremental improvements are what add up over time. Starting small is better than not at all. At the end of the day, the more your employees know, understand and care about your customers, the better they’ll serve them (and the more they’ll enjoy the results) — regardless of the role they are in. And that’s a true win-win for the bottom line.

Car dealerships across the country are being forced to use paper forms as the auto industry looks to recover from a cyberattack that caused mass outages last week.

The attack hit CDK Global Systems, a cloud-based software that runs all back-end financials and information on car sales, financing, repairs, maintenance, and more. The company serves an estimated 15,000 car dealerships across the country.

Ford and Kia noted in statements to Reuters that some operations have been affected.

The interfaces were reportedly hit with back-to-back cyberattacks that caused dealerships to begin shutting down operations as early as Wednesday around 2 a.m. EST.

Related: Mark Cuban Issues Warning After His Google Account Is Hacked

Per Bloomberg, the group that claimed responsibility for the attack (which is believed to be based in Eastern Europe) demanded tens of millions of dollars in ransom to cease the system hack ahead of the weekend, which CDK was reportedly willing to pay.

“In the interim, we are continuing to actively engage with our customers and provide them with alternate ways to conduct business,” CDK told Reuters.

The software company is also planning to run an internal investigation and is cooperating with authorities as it works towards the full restoration of its services nationwide.

Related: GM Taps Costco to Sell Chevrolet, Cadillac Electric Vehicles

The restoration was underway by Monday afternoon, though CDK said that it estimated that full restoration would take “days” and not weeks to complete. Still, it did not give an exact estimated timeline as to when dealerships would be able to resume business as usual.

CDK did not clarify exactly how many customers were still affected by the attack as of Monday afternoon.

Working, watching videos, and browsing the internet should be safe and private experiences. Unfortunately, public networks are often hazardous places riddled with hackers and advertisers. That’s why an increasing number of people these days are turning to VPN subscriptions.

If you haven’t yet, it’s time to consider how much of your data and personal information you’re leaving vulnerable every time you hop on a public network.

To help you out, consider that a two-year subscription to NordVPN is on sale for only $89 (reg. $198) for a limited time only. NordVPN’s Threat Protection is one of its most relevant and helpful features. It’s designed to block advertisements and trackers that can disrupt and slow down your online activities.

NordVPN can scan URLs before you visit them and block you from visiting dangerous sites that could be threats. It looks out for things like spyware, malicious software, trackers, and more, blocking anything it deems a threat. It also keeps you secure when on Wi-Fi networks with top-of-the-line encryption.

For professionals and business leaders, NordVPN’s high-speed capabilities are also well worth paying attention to. Using NordLynx, which is the fastest VPN protocol there is, it helps you and your team members get ahead when working in the office, at home, and on the road.

NordVPN is a critical darling with a 9.3/10-star rating on VPNoverview, and a 9.5/10-star rating on vpnMentor.

Don’t spend any more time leaving you, your co-workers, or your family members browsing at risk. Get a two-year subscription to NordVPN on sale for only $89 (reg. $198) for a limited time only.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

What is Skill Success?

Skill Success is an online learning platform with more than 4,000 online course videos on a wide variety of topics. Entrepreneurs looking to grow their understanding of given industries or fields can come here for video courses on business, finance, technology, cooking, music, and so much more.

How does Skill Success approach learning differently?

Skill Success makes learning new topics immersive and fun with gamified learning. By giving users incentives like earning badges and showcasing achievements, Skill Success keeps making progress fun and motivating.

Are the courses easy to access?

Skill Success courses are accessible from any device, anywhere, and at any time. All that’s needed to log in and watch a video course on a given topic is a reliable internet connection. The one-time payment for a lifetime membership makes it easy to revisit when you need it without any extra worry or planning.

What if I get tired of the Skill Success course catalog?

With thousands of courses on a variety of topics, it would take a lot of time to review, let alone get tired of the content available. At the same time, Skill Success also continuously updates its catalog with new options so that you always have something fresh to learn.

Is Skill Success recommended?

It is. Skill Success has been recommended by PCMag, Entrepreneur, and CNN, among other notable names.

Invest in a lifetime of learning with this lifetime membership to Skill Success, which is on sale for only $99.99 (reg. $540), the best price for this subscription online.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

While many top business leaders continue to express concern over the unchecked development of AI, the CEO of SoftBank, a Japanese investment company, has a big prediction for its future.

In a rare public appearance to shareholders at the bank’s general meeting on Friday, CEO Masayoshi Son spoke about his desire to create a world powered by artificial superintelligence, or ASI.

Related: Most Employees Haven’t Used AI, Don’t Trust the Tech: Report

“SoftBank Group has done many things until now that have all been a warm-up for my great dream to realize artificial super intelligence,” Son told shareholders of the Japanese company, per Reuters.

He also said AGI, or artificial general intelligence, which refers to artificial intelligence that is smarter than the human brain, will be here within the next three to five years and that we could see ASI technology reach a level that’s 10,000 times smarter than the human brain within the next 10 years, according to CNBC.

Son’s futuristic comments did not include an actionable plan for how the company plans to step into the space of ASI, but he mentioned that SoftBank would be working to produce robots with AI capabilities that could be used across all sectors and require “immense capital” to complete.

Over the last year, dozens of billionaires and business leaders, including Elon Musk and Richard Branson, have signed letters calling for regulation of the technology despite the positive benefits the advancement in technology could signal.

Related: 3 Things to Look for to Determine If AI Is Being Used Ethically

“I’m more excited than worried about AI,” Branson recently told Entrepreneur. “I think it’s going to transform people’s healthcare, it’s going to transform operations, it’s going to transform many, many aspects of life.”

SoftBank was up nearly 27% year over year on Friday afternoon.

According to Steve Jobs, “Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.” It seems obvious that keeping things simple will help your business succeed. And yet, it’s surprisingly difficult to do it.

If simplicity is this challenging, you need to be intentional to make it happen. That’s why many successful companies actively prioritize it as a value. Ikea’s focus on simplicity comes across in its designs, catalog, store experience and more. One of Nike’s 11 management maxims is “simplify and go,” focusing teams on moving fast to adapt to new technologies and fashions.

I believe that simplicity is a driver for genius innovation. In fact, my journey as an entrepreneur began with an idea to simplify a complex and bureaucratic process. Today, the success of that idea has created new challenges. We serve millions of customers across over 100 countries, with many different needs — to meet them all, we’d need a ton of different features. So, we have to find the simplest ideas that will improve the experience for the largest number of users.

Related: Here’s Why You Should Embrace Simplicity as a Strategy (and 3 Ways to Do It)

Simplifying innovation is a recipe for success

Some people think that to be an entrepreneur, you have to bring groundbreaking technological innovation to the world. But actually, there’s a lot of room to innovate on top of new technologies, simplifying them and packaging them for specific use cases.

If you think of two of the technology giants of our times, Google and Apple, neither of them invented their core technologies. Apple wasn’t the first company to create a home computer or cellphone, Google wasn’t the first company to develop a search engine. They made existing innovations simpler and more user-friendly, and it was a recipe for success.

This is particularly relevant right now in the middle of a revolution fueled by generative AI. There are definitely huge opportunities in creating new AI-driven technologies, but there are even more opportunities in finding ways to package these technologies into user-friendly software for specific use cases.

To do this, first master the tech, and then put yourself in the shoes of your potential user. Try to understand what is really useful about the innovation and what barriers people might face when trying to use it.

The key is to find a way to simplify the technology, making it easier for your target users to understand and adopt it. Do this, and you’re onto a winner.

Work smarter by simplifying communication

Another part of any business where simplification is super important is communications and processes. As companies grow, it becomes harder to get people on the same page or ensure continuity between departments. Poor communication creates misunderstandings, which can lead to mistakes. The more people involved in a project, the more likely it is that workflows will become complicated. This all slows things down, wastes time and restricts your ability to make an impact on the business.

Let’s start with communication. Using a single, simple language across the company is crucial for people to be able to understand each other. For example, try to use less jargon and fewer three-letter acronyms, or make sure to explain them if you do. By creating organized archives of historical documents and plans, you help onboard new people and anyone can find important information fast when they need it.

Create a culture of transparency where different departments share their plans with each other. Create frameworks to facilitate this, like quarterly reviews or roadmap deployments. It’s not possible for employees to be actively involved in everything going on in the company, but by helping everyone take part passively, you’re making sure they’re on the same page and can facilitate ideas and collaborations across teams.

When you do have to communicate, encourage your teams to do it in the most straightforward way possible. By simplifying communication and making it easy to understand, discussions are more focused and decisions are made faster.

Related: The Key to Effectively Communicating Important Messages Is All About Simplicity

Put simplicity at the heart of your product

A simplification mindset can also be applied to product development. By making small incremental changes, sometimes with test groups of users, you can use the inspect and adapt methodology to understand their adoption, as well as any issues, and innovate further accordingly. Every so often, you can combine all these small changes into a large product update that you roll out for everyone.

For example: A company added a lot of extra value to its product with new features and releases. In theory, this was great for the users, but some found the UI overwhelming and new pricing options confusing. To use a metaphor, some people are happy to be given ingredients to make their own meal, but most would prefer the chef do the cooking so they can enjoy the final result.

Having understood this through their feedback, the company introduced a change to its UI that helped users get the end result they wanted, without having to work hard to achieve it themselves. By simplifying, the company maximized the impact of the value of all the new additions to the product.

Related: Keep It Simple: Why Simplicity Is Key To Making Your Brand Win

Richard Branson once said: “Any fool can make something complicated. It is hard to keep things simple.” Simplicity won’t come about by accident — you need to be intentional. You have to call it out and make it a focus for the whole company. You need to put it at the heart of everything. And when you succeed, the impact will be huge.