Advocating for an A/B Testing Platform
How to Get Leadership’s Attention with the Right Lingo
There are two types of tech companies: those that implement online controlled experiments to evaluate their product ideas and those that don’t. For the latter, there are usually a few knowledgeable souls who have attempted to introduce A/B testing to the product. However, they rarely even get to the point of creating a lucid chart to illustrate the initial system design for an A/B testing platform.
The most common reason for this premature failure is that the people advocating for A/B testing don’t know their audience. They are either:
1. Advocating to leads who lack the influence to start an A/B testing program.
-or-
2. Using ineffective language when they pitch — failing to paint the dream that is A/B testing.
This article can’t help with the first issue, but can help with the second. If you want to introduce A/B testing to your company, the first thing you should do is check out my book, Practical A/B Testing, which gives you a solid blueprint for getting started. Next, use the following language as inspiration for your next conversation about your plans for A/B testing.
Words are powerful; use them wisely, especially when conversing with engineering and product leads who have the influence you need to gain traction for your A/B testing goals.
Top Three Reasons to A/B Test Your Product
To maximize your pitch, use the following three talking points when advocating for A/B testing.
Steer Product Strategy
A/B testing quantifies real user behavior and allows you to measure whether or not your tactics enable your product strategy. Product intuition and theory can take you only so far. Given a long enough timeline, you will make decisions that degrade the user experience. You will catch those degradations earlier by evaluating the scope of an A/B test.
Increase Learning
Learning more about the experiences and features you’re putting in front of people is a goal product and engineering departments should strive for. Insights on the effect of changes made to a product should be table stakes. With each insight, your next product discussion will be more informed and you’ll make better decisions.
Enable Innovation
Investing in an A/B testing platform will be a conduit for innovation everywhere else (tech, product, business). Taking big bets on your product strategy is risky and expensive from a time/resource perspective. Adopt the A/B testing methodology to de-risk and reduce the cost of innovating.
🔊 Do you have an A/B testing advocacy success story? Share it in the comments.
If you enjoyed this article, you may also like Practical A/B Testing by Leemay Nassery. Pick up the ebook today from The Pragmatic Bookshelf:
