Chosen opponent reveals their hand and discards a card of your choice. It’s the CRO Roundtable Roundup!
Thanks to Iqbal Ali, Matt Beischel, Mike Kust, Slobodan Manić, Shiva Manjunath, and Craig Sullivan for joining us. Want to get in on the action and talk with other cool CRO people? Then you should probably…
One Sentence Takeaway
I’m a busy person; give me the TL:DR
Prioritizing QA in experimentation is essential to prevent costly mistakes, ensure accuracy, and streamline processes.
The Notes
What we discussed this week
- Why Internal Tools Have Terrible UX
- Internal systems often run on outdated tech like fax machines
- Lack of in-house IT results in reactive fixes only
- Manual processes persist due to lack of integrated tools
- Intranets and internal tools rarely get UX investment
- Disconnect between internal tech and customer-facing systems
- Too many human handoffs lead to errors and inefficiency
- Hypothesis vs. Prediction in Experimentation
- People confuse prediction with hypothesis; they aren’t the same
- Hypotheses should be based on research and insight, not guesses
- Many treat hypotheses as certainty rather than questions to test
- Poor framing leads to irrelevant or misleading tests
- People retrofit hypotheses to match results (HARKing)
- Granular hypotheses often oversimplify complex changes
- Scientific rigor is often missing in test interpretation
- Spaghetti Testing and Relevance Bleed
- Spaghetti testing lacks research and direction
- Relevance bleed occurs when hypotheses lose fidelity through implementation
- Iterating on wins is valid but shouldn’t replace problem-first thinking
- Tests without follow-up or learning loops waste resources
- Spaghetti tests produce weak learnings and mislead teams
- Strong programs pursue chains of related tests
- Testing Culture and Organizational Maturity
- Some orgs build solid test programs with research, usability, and analytics
- Others rely on guesswork, copycat tactics, or button-color tests
- AI agents and tools are being considered to reduce hiring
- Resource constraints force prioritization of hypothesis-driven testing
- Bigger companies can afford more exploratory or spaghetti-style tests
- LinkedIn and Thought Leadership Commentary
- Hypothesis debates often play out in toxic LinkedIn comment threads
- Simplified stories dominate posts, even if evidence is lacking
- People want clean “why” narratives, even if they’re unfounded
- High-reach commenters can dissuade others from sharing
- There’s frustration with oversimplified case studies and marketing speak
The Quotes
Standout quips from this week
“Nobody's thought to ask ChatGPT how to save the world.”
“The hypothesis is the context. It's like seeking the answer to the question.”
“I'm building a foundation, making sure measurement is there before we start investing funds.”
“For most people, the point is not to spend that same time watching it do what you would do.”
“Hypothesis generation is annoying, but it gets your brain thinking about what you're testing.”
“You're just twisting the hypothesis to fit a change you've made arbitrarily.”
Book Club
Relevant reads recommended this week
- No books this week, sorry!
CRO Link Digest
Useful and thought-provoking content shared this week
- “Why?” is a comfort question, not a control lever – LinkedIn post by Andrew Anderson
- Teachers are also forever learning – blog post by Lukas Vermeer
- Hypothesis Helper – ChatGPT agent by Johann Van Tonder
Off-Topic Sidebars
Experimentation isn’t the only thing we talk about at the CRO Roundtable. There’s often a healthy dose of discussion on shared interests, personal passions, and hobbies.
- Middle East and Media Commentary
- Discussion of The Guardian’s reporting and Western media bias
- Gaza destruction compared to scenes from Terminator
- Movies and Comedy
- Scary Movie 4 Detroit scene referenced
- South Park episode featuring AI Trump and satire of deepfakes
- Science Fiction and AI Philosophizing
- Asimov’s AI god narrative from “The Last Question”
- Concerns about AI arms race between U.S. and China
- Overreliance on “one prompt” solutions mocked
- Politics and Travel
- Concerns about U.S. airport security and surveillance
- American visa requirements now include visible social media
- Jokes about Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn as political alternatives
Sidebar Shareables
Amusing sidebar content shared this week
- The Last Question – short story by Isaac Asimov
- The Last Question – Wikipedia article about the short story