How Much of Your Copy Is Totally Irrelevant? A Case for Web Personalization
copyhackers.comShockingly, the article doesn't even mention A/B testing as a way to find out what a site's visitors prefer. In my opinion, an untested strategy is little more than guesswork.
A/B testing is still solid - my thoughts are that A/B testing is assumed. This article appears to push people to consider beyond that: new things.
The success of evolution by natural selection tells us that one can optimize one's response to an environment whose properties aren't understood, by simply trying everything and noticing what works, what prevails. Genetic programming is the computer-science version of natural selection. And A/B testing is a simple version of genetic programming.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_programming
> This article appears to push people to consider beyond that: new things.
Yes, but the issue isn't new things, it's which new things. For that, you need testing. If people were either rational or predictable, this argument would fall apart. But they aren't.
Honestly, I think it's a given that web personalization is deeply rooted in A/B testing. But instead of testing for what's best for the aggregate, you're testing for what's best for each individual.
That's interesting, but I suspect most people want to maximize visits, in which case they're after the aggregate. I'm not saying I agree with the sentiment, but I think it's true.