Testing and Experimenting in a Recession: 3 Tips

Are we in a recession? I was one of 1.1 million people who Googled ‘recession for dummies’ today and I can confidently say I don’t know.

Recession or not, every digital product leader is faced with the challenge of making an impact quickly and with less time or resources than anticipated.

The reality is this – less time or fewer resources isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

I’d like to introduce you to YML’s favorite defense: testing. You might call it “user research” or running experiments.

I know what you’re thinking, demand slows! Budgets are decreased!

Allowing your customers to interact freely with your product or idea is crucial. Now more than ever you need to show your customers you value their input.

How We Think:

At YML we’ve invested in this approach for clients across the spectrum — from healthcare to grocery, auto, banking and more — and more insights always leads to more value — for the business and the consumer.

This is how we think and build within Product at YML:

Lessons Learned:

Here are three free product lessons learned around making an impact without breaking the bank.

Short tests save time

We see this all the time: a bad testing strategy steals time when it’s built with the intention of making endless optimizations. Endless = not in our vocabulary. YML’s Product team has adopted eight flexible testing methods for any major scenario - from product growth to innovation. We’ve made these tests turnkey. Is your goal a 1% increase to cart conversion? In a matter of hours we can show you exactly where the pain points are and the potential revenue gained by making customer-backed decisions.

You only need to test with 5 people

Adopting templates was just the start. We realize there are productivity gains in the amount of customers we survey. Our philosophy: we’re wasting your time (and budget) observing the same results without learning anything new.

Consider tradeoffs

One of the biggest benefits of testing or surveying is measuring the success or failure of an idea. YML recently worked with a QSR mobile app team losing market share to 3rd party apps that were faster and oversimplified. We embarked on the big R - redesign. Our usability testing strategy found initial thinking for major converting pages was wrong within a few hours. With user feedback, we worked through recommendations that ultimately saved developer time and money.

As a product and design partner, it’s our mission to build products your customers will love - in the most simple way possible. See how we’re tackling this.

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About the Author: Cari Cox

Cari is the swiss army knife of product management. With 15 years of experience in strategy, storytelling and technology, she has matched the motivation and desire of customers to the brand through web, mobile and immersive end to end experiences for Samsung, the Met Opera, State Farm, and many more.