Your Coffee Break

With the explosion of A/B testing, and the famous 41 shades of blue test by Google, there has been a trend towards small optimisations. But these optimisations are low risk and low reward. Companies are looking for teams to deliver big returns but this won’t happen with small, safe bets. The challenge is that bigger bets often fail, but it is worth it when they pay off. As Jeff Bezos said, “We all know that if you swing for the fences, you’re going to strike out a lot, but you’re also going to hit some home runs.”

But making big bets doesn’t mean doing things blindly. You still need to test your big ideas because you don’t want them to cause serious issues when they most likely fail. Unity, the game development platform, received a huge amount of backlash this week when they launched a new pricing model that charges games per install instead of the subscription tiers that they previously used (and they automatically migrated all existing users to the new pricing model).

Check out the Product Direction articles below for more on how to run some interesting big tests, like how Groupon delisted from Google to prove that 60% of their traffic was organic searches. And you can also read about how the backlash against Unity might cause lasting damage.

Happy experimenting!

The (subtle) plug

Ever wondered why some products just "get you" while others make you want to pull your hair out? Severin Wille and Nicholas Kanhai gave us the insight. For them the secret is all about product managers and designers being on the same page. When these two teams sync up and chase the same goals, magic happens.

The agile method is the ultimate wingman for these teams. Agile keeps things flexible and fast, letting everyone pivot when they need to. So, not only do you get a product that's easy on the eyes, but it also nails those business goals. It's a win-win!

This week updates

Enabling the Team

Messaging App Madness: How To Stay Productive by Stedman Blake Hood

Stedman discusses the productivity pitfalls of enterprise messaging apps like Slack, offering solutions to minimize distractions.

Are Collaboration Tools Overwhelming Your Team? by Rebecca Hinds, Paul Leonardi, Robert I. Sutton, and Federico Torreti

Learn about the paradox of collaborative tools, intended to increase productivity but often leading to digital burnout and a lack of action.

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