Testing assumptions in web design

The clip below comes from the blog A List Apart. Writer Nick Usborne's thesis – that no creative discipline has a monopoly on knowing what makes for the most effective design – is hardly controversial.

What was shocking, at least to me, was the example he used to illustrate the point. Usborne presented a government website page and two alternatives his firm came up with as improvements. He challenges us to pick the most effective page in terms of "sales," measured here as a conversion rate in filling out a form.

In split testing, the design improvement I'd deemed most in line with the current orthodoxy of good web design actually fared the worst.

As much as I hate to hang my misjudgment out here on a professional blog, I do so to recognize Usborne's point: "While this may be uncomfortable for some, the end result is that we will become much better web designers and writers" if, through testing, we "let our readers show us which designs work best, and which copy works best."

Take the test yourself via the link below. How do you fare?

clipped from: www.alistapart.com

One way or another, it’s important to accept that none of us—neither designers nor writers—know what the “best” page design or copy is until we test.

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In a business environment where marketers demand an accountable performance from every web page, it’s time to put aside the assumed expertise of design and copy “gurus.”