Optimizing for Taste

There are many, many reasons I am opposed [to A/B testing within our product] but the one we should care about is how it fosters a culture of decision paralysis. It fosters a culture of decision making without having an opinion, without having to put a stake in the ground. It fosters a culture where making a quick buck trumps a great product experience.

Yes!

one of our core values, is centered around caring about the small details, and that by its very nature is subjective. What details? Which ones matter? Those decisions all center on taste, and around someone making a subjective decision.

[people wrongly conclude] that data is only measured by the outcome of the project, rather than learned or otherwise informed by past experiences…

Data is not a substitute for critical thinking. The test said it was successful, but the outcomes, which is what you base future decisions on, showed otherwise.

So what do you do instead of relying on data? Rely on Taste. What is taste?

taste is curated through hiring, and comes from the team’s domain expertise, their diversity of background, and their learnings both building and using our product. It comes from talking with customers on Twitter, from engaging them in support tickets and on Github, it comes from direct transparent conversation.