I am working for a new company that has a product kind of like Amazon.com. JP recommended me for the position. They’ve hired me to improve the usability of the product, I’m supposed to be their user experience expert.
I go out to lunch with some of the executives on my first day. I tell them that we’re going to do A/B testing to evaluate the changes we’re making. I explain how this will work, using Amazon as an example.
I tell them several times that the product might get worse instead of better. I describe how Amazon uses A/B testing to evaluate how new features help them sell more products, but that each additional feature makes the page harder to read and less visually appealing. I’m trying to tell them that even if we make the site more appealing, they might see an initial drop in sales.
I keep talking about this as we walk back to the car after lunch. I get my things out of the trunk of the car.
