Hooked and booked by Jeremy Keith

Data only answers what, not why:

At Booking.com, they do a lot of A/B testing.
At Booking.com, they’ve got a lot of dark patterns.
I think there might be a connection.
A/B testing is a great way of finding out what happens when you introduce a change. But it can’t tell you why.

More:

The problem is that, in a data-driven environment, decisions ultimately come down to whether something works or not. But just because something works, doesn’t mean it’s a good thing.

If I were trying to convince you to buy a product, or use a service, one way I could accomplish that would be to literally put a gun to your head. It would work. Except it’s not exactly a good solution, is it? But if we were to judge by the numbers (100% of people threatened with a gun did what we wanted), it would appear to be the right solution.

Love the picture he paints with the “gun-to-head” example. Though often mistakenly interpreted otherwise, data is only one piece of a multi-faceted story.