When creating a new website, landing page, or banner ad, there is one rule to never forget… You are not the demographic. It is far to easy to become overly confident and use your gut feeling instead of backing your feelings with numbers.
I find that web marketers all make the same mistake, we make assumptions about our demographic based on our personal opinions. This means we assume our demographic is like us. A website shouldn’t be treated like a work of art, it should however be treated like a complex math equation. Where the answer to the equation is not the design you like but the one that produces the desired result.
With a room full of egos it can be hard to convince some people to take an analytical approach towards development. Tools like Google’s website optimizer are a great way of defusing any argument over design or functionality. By placing simple java script on your website, Google will shuffle between countless variations giving you numbers to back up the best design. There is no more need for arguement, try every ones ideas and see what does best. After all you wont know what does best until you’ve actually tried it.
I don’t think you should ignore gut feelings but you shouldn’t stick with them if the numbers say it’s the wrong decision. If a change makes your website less effective don’t do it. It’s that simple…
Just remember you are not the demographic, test what works best, don’t assume anything.
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