How I Designed Thumbnails for Ali Abdaal & Bryan Johnson (Breakdown Inside)

After designing thumbnails that have generated millions of views for Ali Abdaal, Bryan Johnson, and GrowVeg, the fastest-growing gardening channel on YouTube - I’ve learned that clicks come down to psychology, not just design.

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In this newsletter, I’ll break down examples from these three channels and show how I used audience psychology to drive more views.

Most creators focus on design but overlook what actually makes viewers click. Get this wrong, and you’ll keep wondering why other channels, often with “worse” content, get more views.

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I’ll also share a case study of a thumbnail that pulled in 11.2x more views than average.

The Million-View Secret

When I was Ali's YouTube Producer, we had a video hit 8M+ views:

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The success wasn't accidental, I engineered through careful title and thumbnail psychology to tap into every viewer's deep desire for clear, confident skin.

It spoke directly to the viewer's desired transformation.

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Title Psychology:

• "Evidence-Based" signaled scientific credibility
• Ali's background as a doctor gave him authority
• Together, these elements built trust before the click

Thumbnail Psychology:

• Left side showed visible acne and skin problems
• Right side displayed clear, healthy skin
• This left-to-right transformation instantly communicated the journey viewers wanted

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This thumbnail didn’t just show a before-and-after—it showed viewers the transformation they desperately wanted.

For those struggling with skin issues, it cut through the noise of endless products, offering a clear, evidence-backed solution from a trusted medical expert.

Don't forget this: show potential viewers in transformation thumbnails what they want to become.

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I won't go too in-depth here as I've written an extensive article on my design workflow for this thumbnail here.

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Bryan Johnson's Most Viewed Video

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This thumbnail I designed for Bryan Johnson was again built around the psychology of his audience, promising a clear transformation through five simple habits.

The strategic use of colour, arrows, and body posture enhances its ‘glanceability’, making it instantly recognisable on the YouTube homepage.

At a quick scroll, viewers immediately grasp both the video’s message and the transformation it offers, just like Ali's skincare video.

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The GrowVeg Transformation Formula

Let me show you how understanding viewer psychology helped us engineer viral thumbnails for GrowVeg.

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Case Study #1: The Million-View Soil Video

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Our most recent success exploded to 1M+ views in just one month – 11.7 times GrowVeg's usual performance.

The thumbnail shows a simple but powerful transformation with the leaves turning into rich, dark soil.

The arrow helps to setup those expectations and is easily understood at a glance.

For new gardeners, this hits a sweet spot as they all have leaves in their yard, but finding out that 'Smart gardeners' are turning them into "amazing soil" with a 'clever way' of doing so nails intrigue and transformation.

Again, show potential viewers in transformation thumbnails what they want to become.

In this case, the idea of learning a clever trick that smart gardeners do is a powerful emotional driver to beginners who wish to transform into being smart in the garden.

The title spoke to their inner desires without them even realising.

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Case Study #2: The Fertilizer Success

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That previous packaging was actually built on this video, as we had we tested Better Than Miracle Grow: Make Fertilizer From Weeds which had got us 500k views, 4.3 times their normal performance.

This thumbnail taps into two powerful psychological triggers: the desire to save money (free weeds vs. expensive Miracle Grow) and the satisfaction of turning a garden problem (weeds) into a solution (fertilizer).

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For budget-conscious beginners, this is irresistible and again spoke to our core audience's true desires.

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Case Study #3: The Time-Based Transformation

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Here's another example, this thumbnail is in a different format for illustrating transformation but still delivered 2x normal views.

Instead of buckets, we showed five tomatoes progressively ripening, with "Day 1" and "Day 7" markers.

This works because it addresses a common beginner frustration (waiting forever for tomatoes to ripen) and promises a specific timeframe for results.

The progression of tomatoes getting redder creates an almost satisfying before-and-after effect in a single image and again passes the 'glanceable' test where someone quickly scrolling on YouTube could see and understand this fast.

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Case Study #4: The Human Element

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This one adds a personal element to our transformation formula. Ben, the host, holds two contrasting plants with the text "It's not luck" pointing to the thriving one which paired nicely with the "The Clever Way Smart Gardeners Stop Plants Dying" title.

This thumbnail acknowledges a deep fear among new gardeners – that success is about natural talent rather than learnable skills.

By showing both outcomes and adding "it's not luck," we're telling viewers: "This isn't about having a green thumb. This is about knowing the right technique."

Each of these thumbnails builds on the same core principle: show viewers exactly what they want to achieve, then hint at a simple process to get there.

No fancy thumbnail required – just a clear understanding of what makes your audience click.

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How to Apply This to Your Channel

The success of these thumbnails reveals three key principles:

1. Show Clear Transformation: Whether it's buckets, plants, or results – make the before and after instantly clear no matter your niche. Left to right reading pattern is your friend here if you're going for a direct transformation comparison like in Ali's thumbnail.
2. Use Strategic Text: Simple labels that reinforce the transformation like how GrowVeg uses "It's not Luck" or contrasting colors (white vs yellow) to emphasize the difference.
3. Time-Based Elements: When possible, include time indicators (Day 1 → Day 7) to show viewers how quickly they can achieve results.