Welcome to Briefly Experimental
This edition was written by Viljo Vabrit co-Founder of Speero.
Every two weeks we'll deliver the best experimentation content and commentary, curated by a member of the Speero team. We'll break things down into the four key pillars needed for any successful experimentation program.
Strategy & Culture
🛀 Beware of the ‘hot tub’ effect when it comes to organizational change
Change management in organizations is a pain most leaders have felt. We recently rebranded and repositioned our agency. A small task force worked on our new strategy for months; when we finally presented everything to the team we were a bit surprised about the time it took for everyone to get on board.
This article by Sara Coene, a behavioral change designer explains the dynamics at play when it comes to making changes. Here's a preview of her thinking;
"The “hot tub” effect is about unconsciously equalizing the lead time of a project or change for everyone, regardless of whether someone is involved in the change early or late. This has a major impact on the adoption of change."
Although there are other terms for this cognitive bias, I like Sara's analogy of the shock of getting into a "hot tub" vs. slowly acclimatizing to the temperature.
People & Skills
🧠 5 behavioral biases that trip up remote managers
We recently surveyed our Speero team to find out which work benefits they value the most. Their response; the freedom to choose when and where they work.
Even if some of us are returning to our offices, many are keeping some elements of remote working. Managing a "hybrid" team poses many new challenges to our managers. Keeping remote people motivated and engaged is not a simple task.
Here are 5 behavioral biases to be aware of and ways to counteract them to level up your remote people management skills.
👀 Brand-side job opportunities
Here are a few interesting roles that have been posted in the last couple of weeks.
- Experimentation Strategist at Fanatics (remote, USA)
- Product Manager, Growth - Conversions at Masterclass (San Francisco, USA)
- Product Manager III - Experimentation Platforms at Expedia (Seattle, USA)
- Director of Product, Personalization at The New York Times (New York, USA)
- Experience Strategy Lead at Parkinson's UK (London, UK)
- Senior Product Manager at Trustpilot (Edinburgh, Scotland)
- Senior Director, Commercial Insights at RS Components (remote, Europe)
Process & Methodology
📊 42 up-to-date A/B testing stats
Did you know that while agency and in-house teams get the same average lift in results from winning tests, agencies had almost 21% more wins?
Or that 67% of companies with the most mature experimentation programs share their findings across the company, compounding their value and learnings further.
Meanwhile, another study found that the four biggest challenges that optimizers face are: getting better testing processes in place, getting buy-in from management, having enough traffic to test effectively, and having enough resources to manage the experimentation program. Sound familiar?
If you're looking for some "ammunition" to sell-in A/B testing or support new initiatives in your program, then these 42 A/B testing statistics can help you back up your claims.
Data & Tools
🥼 A guide to getting started in data science
Apparently being a Data Scientist is "The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century" (HBR 2012). Sexiest maybe because there always seems to be demand for the skills but not enough talent to go around.
Anyone looking to expand their skills in this area can't go wrong by starting with this great intro guide to data science. The guide is written by Chanin Nantasenamat, Ph.D. who also runs a great YouTube channel called Data Professor. Chanin shares some great resources and advice on what to start learning and from where based on his own experience in the field.