What To Do When You’ve Run Out Of Testing Ideas

If you’re running a testing program to optimize your customers’ experience, you’re already doing things right. Gaining valuable insights through testing will set you apart from your competitors and give you an edge on satisfying your audience. Throughout the process, however, it’s possible to get stuck — a sort of “writer’s block,” if you will — and draw a blank with what to test next. Have no fear; this is a completely normal feeling to get and the good part is that (usually) it means you’re doing a lot of testing! This post will help rejuvenate the ideation process and touch on a few ways to get the juices flowing again.

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

If you’ve hit this “dead end” then chances are you have a slew of completed tests. Use those to your advantage! Take a look through your previous test results and answer the following questions:

Take A Step Back

Sometimes we get too caught up in the nitty gritty and, in an effort to come up with new test ideas, we create tests that change very specific content on the site. For example, have you done tests in the checkout funnel that work through every form field section? While this may serve to understand how people might be missing the Zip Code box, it doesn’t help with the bigger picture of why visitors are not completing checkout. Zoom out from your current perspective and see where you can create a test that takes on broader strokes.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

If you’re looking for some new low-hanging-fruit, one of the best ways to identify test areas is by sifting through site analytics. This is probably something your team did months or years ago when you first got started with testing. It served you well back then and still has the power to set you off running with the new ammo you need. Look for areas where drop-off rates are higher than industry standards or parts of the site where a user journey is taking a turn that the business would like to shift. Look at day of week and time of day to see if trends shift more during one spot than another. How about seasonality changes? Think about how the visitor’s priorities might change during the year and come up with some tests that try new features or designs that cater to these needs.

Ask Your Audience

When you’re part of the optimization team, or even leading the testing program entirely, it’s possible to lose sight of the progress you’ve made and miss some unseen opportunities. Spice it up a bit and get some new eyes in the room. Invite peers from other departments in the company to offer up some test ideas — you’ll be surprised what they may notice! The fresh perspective could provide some great new tests for you, and leave your colleagues feeling helpful, knowing that their opinions matter!

One of the greatest things about customer experience optimization is that the job is never done. Even when it feels like you’ve tested everything on your site, turn over a new section and you’ll uncover a whole new area to test in. 

With these suggestions and the CXO Buyer's Guide, you will be on your way past that mental dead end and closer to your goal of digital optimization. This ebook will give you more tips for testing and personalization for web, mobile, and apps.

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