From A to B

We'll put money on the fact that you've had your fair share of decision-makers who couldn't care less about user research.

You know research is important. But how do you get THEM to see the light?

In this episode, Tracy and Shiva discuss:

00:00 Intro

01:51 Signs leadership doesn't care about research

04:55 WHY research fails to get taken seriously

10:27 The consequences of ignoring research

13:36 What to do about research-allergic leaders

22:32 LinkedIn Post of the Week

The LinkedIn post of the week is from Nima Yassini: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoBNima

Like what you hear? Subscribe. All the fed-up user researchers are doing it.

A special shoutout to these folks who shared their tell-tale signs that leadership doesn't take research seriously:

Experimentation is slow. It's what people keep telling us. And you know what?

They kind of have a point. Isn't it better to go 'slow' in the right direction (in the short term) instead of fast in the wrong direction, though?

In this episode, Tracy and Shiva discuss:

00:00 Intro

02:23 Experimentation can be slow (in the short term) - and that's ok!

09:31 Is your program slow? Or is it you?

11:26 Stop striving for pixel perfection

14:04 How to build faster processes without losing your soul

20:06 LinkedIn Post of the Week

The LinkedIn post of the week is from David Pereira: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoBDavid

Like what you hear? Subscribe. All the failed-doctors-turned-experimenters are doing it. Ahem, Shiva.

9/10 pasta makers agree on this one simple fact.* Throwing shit at the wall is fine at a food fight, but a no-no in your testing program.

The cure? Iterative testing. It's like a pressure washer for your wall, cleaning up the mess you made from all that janky spaghetti testing. 

In this episode, Tracy and Shiva discuss:

00:00 Intro

02:12 Iterative vs. spaghetti testing

03:35 Research is pointless if you don't act on it

07:52 How to tell if you're spaghetti testing

10:27 Practice makes perfect

20:28 LinkedIn Post of the Week

The LinkedIn post of the week is from Devansh Sharma: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoBDevansh

Like what you hear? Subscribe. Even Chef Freakin' Boyardee is doing it.

*Don't quote us on this one.

Technical marketing and analytics extraordinaire Juliana Jackson has seen a lot of shitty marketing. She joins us to explore a big question with some surprising answers: Is segmenting your audience by gender sexist?

In this episode, Tracy and Juliana discuss:

00:00 Intro

05:03 Deconstructing 'segmentation' and 'sexism'

06:39 We self-segment all the time without knowing it

09:00 Humans are complex; so why do we love labels?

10:38 Representation beyond 'the average man'

20:55 How to not be a lazy marketer

27:15 LinkedIn Post of the Week

Connect with Juliana on LinkedIn and follow her podcast Standard Deviation for more hot takes: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoBJulianaJ

The LinkedIn post of the week is from Nneka Otika: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoBNneka

Shoutout to Women Techmakers, a community that does inclusivity right: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoBWTM

Like what you hear? Subscribe. All the reformed lazy marketers are doing it.

Nobody wants to work (shitty jobs) anymore! We think that's pretty great. In this episode, Tracy and Shiva help you spot a crappy CRO/experimentation job by learning from our many job-hunting mistakes.

We cover:

00:00 Intro

02:42 Job hunting kind of sucks

05:11 Red flags in the job description

13:22 Red flags in the interview

21:21 Wrapping it up all

24:08 LinkedIn Post of the Week

The LinkedIn post of the week is from Ruben De Boer: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoBRubenDB

Find some additional support for your job hunt with these resources:

Experiment Nation CRO Salary Report: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoB-ENsalaryreport

More red flags shared by the community: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoB-Redflags

Like what you hear? Subscribe. Even the people who live under a rock are doing it.

Shiva started drama on LinkedIn the other day in a (seemingly innocuous) post arguing that "bug fixes are not experimentation". Let's just say the comments got lit and we want to talk about it.

In this episode, Tracy and Shiva explore:

00:00 Intro

02:45 The LinkedIn drama that started it all

03:56 Differentiating bugs vs. bad UX

06:08 Why most of us don't have the luxury of testing bugs

13:37 Why WOULD you test a bug fix?

19:25 LinkedIn Post of the Week

The LinkedIn post of the week is from Daphne Tideman: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoBDaphne

Like what you hear? Subscribe. All the people who have colds right now are doing it.

You just started a new testing program and the execs expect wins NOW (well, they expected results before your first day, but will settle for now). Where do you go from here?

In this episode, Tracy plays the 'devil's advocate' in a new segment (we're beta testing...), where one of us is forced to steelman the opposite position. In this case, Tracy (fantastically) played the annoying, win-obsessed exec.

In less than 30 minutes we cover:

00:00 Intro

03:41 Learnings don't pay the bills, right?

06:29 Won't testing-to-learn take a while to get results?

08:02 My buddy says this hack made them millions

09:23 Are learnings a scam to distract me from crap results?

16:33 Putting it all together

22:02 LinkedIn Post of the Week

The LinkedIn post of the week is from Carlos Trujillo:

https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoBCarlos

Like what you hear? Subscribe. Even the executive who wanted a win yesterday has done it.

What do websites and toilet paper have in common? You can tear them down and sometimes those teardowns are full of shite.

In this episode, Tracy and Shiva discuss:

00:00 Intro

03:28 What's a website teardown?

05:23 Why do marketers love teardowns so much?

07:28 How teardowns can be kinda bullshit

10:56 How to use a teardown responsibly

17:27 The verdict: Awesome or overrated?

19:20 LinkedIn Post of the Week

The LinkedIn post of the week is from Gerda Vogt-Thomas:

https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoBGerda

Like what you hear? Subscribe. Apparently a bunch of people in the Netherlands are doing it and now we're ranked #11 in the marketing category.

You're doing it wrong... but it may not be entirely your fault? Perverse incentives in experimentation can lead to cherry-picking results, running 2-day tests, and ignoring long-term effects. If you do this purposefully though, you're ruining experimentation for everyone and we hope you stub your toe.

In this episode, Tracy and Shiva discuss:

00:00 Intro

03:52 What are perverse incentives?

06:18 Perverse incentives in experimentation

17:28 How perverse incentives ruin it for everybody

19:46 LinkedIn Post of the Week

The LinkedIn post of the week is from Simon Girardin: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoBSimon

Like what you hear? Subscribe. All the snakes are doing it. *hissss*

Every experimenter has wondered the same thing at some point: "Should I work at an agency or go in-house?" Good thing we've roughed it out in both environments so you don't have to.

In this episode, Tracy and Shiva discuss:

00:00 Intro

04:18 Should you work agency or in-house first?

05:24 Pros and cons of working in agency vs. in-house environments

16:48 When contracting may be your best bet

19:10 Shiva derails the conversation with more pros and cons

24:19 LinkedIn Post of the Week

The LinkedIn post of the week is from Will Nitze: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoBWill

Like what you hear? Subscribe. All the HiPPOs are doing it. Just kidding, they aren't.