The funnel where adding profile photos lost money

The funnel where adding profile photos lost money
Myth: "More profile previews on the landing page = more signups. Show them the goods."

A team running an adult dating reg-form funnel was sure of it. They tested a grid of 12 profile photos above the form vs. a single photo, ~120k sessions split.

12-photo arm: 3.4% reg.
Single-photo arm: 4.9% reg.

More photos, fewer signups. Session recordings explained it: the 12-photo grid invited browsing. People scanned faces, clicked previews, evaluated — and a third of them decided "meh, not for me" before ever reaching the form. The single photo gave nothing to evaluate, so curiosity drove the form fill instead.

The grid let visitors pre-reject the product. The minimal version made signing up the only way to satisfy curiosity. Same trick every paywall uses.

Reality: showing more upfront lets people self-disqualify before they convert — sometimes the page that says less captures the curiosity you need.