Presenter: Mark Trammell – Twitter
Astronomy vs Astrology - pseudo science that attempts to make sense to everyone vs. true science, measurement, fact
Not unlike focus groups in modern day web development
People talking about their feelings.
On the flip side, going to where your users are is a means to an end to actually see and observe facts
Natural vs artificial selection - we tend to shape the world around us quite aggressively
Natural selection is like the standard design process
Mock -> feedback cycle. Very standard
We have ways to speed that up... eg. A/B testing
How you choose what to measure during A/B testing is much more important than the actual changes you are testing
If you don't actually know what you want to get out of testing you will go down the wrong path
Looking for anomalies in things like customer support tickets, diving in and trying to recreate the issue may reveal something huge. You may just open a door to something larger or better that you would not have discovered otherwise.
It's all about trying to uncover secrets
Once you are open to questioning rituals and time honoured practices you find that one question leads to another. Just because you have done it one way forever doesn't mean it is right (or wrong)
The native faith can endure. New belief can impose itself. Hybrid culture can arise. Ideally, both suppositions can be shaken and something new arrives.