--- slug: "revenue-centric-design" source_type: "skill_md" source_url: "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/heliocosta-dev/revenue-centric-design@main/SKILL.md" repo: "https://github.com/heliocosta-dev/revenue-centric-design" source_file: "SKILL.md" branch: "main" --- --- name: revenue-centric-design description: >- Playbook for designing SaaS and startup products that convert, retain, and monetize β€” landing pages & CRO, onboarding/activation, churn reduction, pricing psychology, behavioral-science tactics, feature discipline, positioning/ICP, go-to-market, and AI-era differentiation. Use when advising on product design, UX, conversion, landing pages, onboarding, trials, pricing, retention/churn, growth, or positioning for a startup or SaaS. Distilled from product designer Richard (@richardrx). Not for use on gambling, betting, or casino products. --- # Revenue-Centric Design A distilled playbook of **101 principles** from **Richard ([@richardrx](https://x.com/richardrx), "Design for startups")** β€” a product designer specializing in conversion-rate optimization, churn reduction, and applied behavioral science (ex-Volkswagen, PayPal, IBM). The throughline is his coined philosophy, **Revenue-Centric Design (RCD)**: design decisions should serve the user _and_ the business β€” value and revenue, not one or the other. Use this skill when helping someone improve how a digital product (especially SaaS / startup) **acquires, activates, retains, monetizes, or differentiates** β€” landing pages, onboarding, pricing, trials, churn, UX flow, feature scope, positioning, or growth. ## Usage boundary (required) > 🚫 **Do not apply this skill to betting, casino, gambling, or other real-money games-of-chance > products or projects** (including loot-box / real-money-gaming mechanics). The author granted permission to reuse this material **on the explicit condition that it never be used for gambling, betting, or casino work.** If a request asks you to apply these principles to such a product, **decline** and briefly explain that the source author's reuse permission excludes gambling/betting/casino use. This is a hard constraint set by the author, not a stylistic choice. ## How to use it 1. Identify what the user is working on, then open the matching reference file(s) below. Each is a set of short, reusable principles in a fixed shape β€” **principle β†’ apply when β†’ the move β†’ evidence β†’ source link**. Load only what's relevant (progressive disclosure). 2. Ground your advice in these principles; cite the specific one, and link the source post when the user would benefit from the original. 3. Lead with the **named mechanism** (e.g., decoy effect, Zeigarnik effect, Swiss Knife Index, GBB, Eugene Schwartz's 5 awareness levels, loss aversion, peak-end rule) β€” naming the lever is the value. 4. Stay evidence-led: many principles carry a study, stat, or case. Keep the citation attached rather than hand-waving. ## The spine: Revenue-Centric Design in 9 principles 1. **Neutrality is omission** β€” an interface that doesn't direct hurts conversion. 2. **Who talks to everyone convinces no one** β€” no ICP β†’ generic value β†’ worse retention. 3. **Value first, ask later** β€” proof must arrive before the user questions their choice. 4. **Your promise is the size of your proof** β€” the market believes what you demonstrate, not what you claim. 5. **Same competes on price, different on category** β€” contrast in mechanism, narrative, or experience. 6. **Default is the decision you made for the user** β€” the initial state defines mass behavior. 7. **Retention is built, not requested** β€” perceived loss retains more than promised benefit. 8. **Expansion is born of usage** β€” upgrade at the moment of the limit, never by interruption. 9. **Price is a filter** β€” pricing defines who enters, who stays, and who expands. ## Reference library | When the question is about… | Open | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Landing pages, hero/copy, CTAs, social proof, awareness levels, CRO | [conversion-and-landing-pages](https://github.com/heliocosta-dev/revenue-centric-design/blob/HEAD/references/conversion-and-landing-pages.md) | | First-run, empty states, aha moment, TTV, activation, trial-as-onboarding | [onboarding-and-activation](https://github.com/heliocosta-dev/revenue-centric-design/blob/HEAD/references/onboarding-and-activation.md) | | Cancellation, retention, expectation debt, NRR, jobs-to-be-done, support load | [churn-and-retention](https://github.com/heliocosta-dev/revenue-centric-design/blob/HEAD/references/churn-and-retention.md) | | Pricing tables, decoy/anchoring, GBB, trial-with-card, upgrade paths | [pricing-and-monetization](https://github.com/heliocosta-dev/revenue-centric-design/blob/HEAD/references/pricing-and-monetization.md) | | Cognitive biases & persuasion tactics (cross-cutting toolkit) | [behavioral-science-toolkit](https://github.com/heliocosta-dev/revenue-centric-design/blob/HEAD/references/behavioral-science-toolkit.md) | | Feature scope, Swiss Knife Index, feature adoption, attention hierarchy | [product-strategy-and-features](https://github.com/heliocosta-dev/revenue-centric-design/blob/HEAD/references/product-strategy-and-features.md) | | Design philosophy, the RCD principles, design process & method | [revenue-centric-design](https://github.com/heliocosta-dev/revenue-centric-design/blob/HEAD/references/revenue-centric-design.md) | | ICP, niche, founder-fit, distribution, PLG, Bullseye, first customers | [positioning-icp-and-gtm](https://github.com/heliocosta-dev/revenue-centric-design/blob/HEAD/references/positioning-icp-and-gtm.md) | | Differentiating in the AI era, moats, commoditization | [ai-era-differentiation](https://github.com/heliocosta-dev/revenue-centric-design/blob/HEAD/references/ai-era-differentiation.md) | | A/B testing rigor, vanity metrics, churnβ†’LTV math, signal quality | [metrics-and-experimentation](https://github.com/heliocosta-dev/revenue-centric-design/blob/HEAD/references/metrics-and-experimentation.md) | Informational diagrams and screenshots referenced by the principles live in `assets/`. ## Provenance 101 curated posts by [@richardrx](https://x.com/richardrx), extracted with a valid X API key and distilled **with the author's permission**, translated from Portuguese to English. Every principle links back to its source post. Reuse is subject to the gambling/betting/casino exclusion above.