Disclaimer: I work at Widemile, a competing firm to Offermatica, and we do a lot of content optimization using multivariate testing and split or A/B testing.
Design in general is important to have before doing the content optimization I do. Typically, I do a test to find the best design and then I follow up with another test to extract the best messaging by testing content within the winning design. As one of the posters noted, people don't necessarily think the same as they act. Which works for testing, not against, in my point of view. If I test 2 designs and one converts lower than another, that is results plain and simple. However using the same 2 designs and comparing them with a usability test does not necessarily prove that the one people prefer will convert more. The biggest advantage of what I do over usability testing is the fact that users don't know they are being tested and when they act, they are doing it on their own volition, not because they were told to try out the page. >From a business standpoint, usability testing doesn't reveal problems that may have larger influences than bad design, such as offers, pricing, and privacy concerns. Many times you have a poor performing site because things beyond design. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in usability testing, you are trying to answer why people did this or that? While in my work, in essense I ask, "Is this better or is this better?" But also, often my data does allow me to extract why people act the way they do. But in the end, are these the same question? In some ways yes, but not completely. I don't think usability testing will go away completely, but for many purposes, I can see content optimization eroding some of its market. There are a ton of synergies and other issues that I'd love to go into, but I think I've wrote enough. Please e-mail me if you'd like to talk more about testing, as I'd love to learn more about the design process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=24061 ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
