Many times in life we are faced with a decision. Should we do A or should we do B? This type of decision is often hard, since we may not know the ramifications of our choices. In many business fields, especially marketing and web design, we can do a test and see which of our choices performs better. Often referred to as A/B Testing, this type of hypothesis can yield great results.
To help you with this type of testing,
I’ve created a simple A/B testing worksheet.
This is what it looks like.
To use this, just simply state your question at the top, and then put your specific A and B questions in the appropriate boxes. Once you have that done, write out a test scenario for each. The results of the test go in the box at the bottom. This sheet provides a simple visual to set up many types of A/B tests.
While A/B testing is popular, we often have a single question that needs a decision.
Instead of throwing the dice, we can ask four specific questions, and come up with a much better decision or hypothesis.
Test the Hypothesis: The questions are as follows…
- What is the best thing that will happen if I do this?
- What is the worst thing that will happen if I do this?
- What is the best thing that will happen if I don’t do this?
- What is the worst thing that will happen if I don’t do this?
By asking the four questions and writing down the answers, it is much easier to come to a decision. The key is asking the What happens if I don’t do this. So many times we ask the first two questions in the series and then we stop. By asking all four we can see the full set of ramifications.
I’ve come up with a Risk Assessment Sheet, that gives you places to answer all four questions and then record your answer at the bottom. For your next project, task, or problem, use this sheet to come up with your best hypothesis. Once you fill it out, you’ll better be able to see the actual risk. Many times, taking NO action can be the riskiest of all.
