One of the biggest trends in software development today is product experimentation. Instead of designing a product, building it, launching, and praying, more and more teams are looking for ways to iterate gradually and validate their ideas with data. Techniques like A/B testing, feature flagging, and gradual rollouts are quickly going from niche to mainstream.
This is great news for the industry, and especially for all of us as end users of these products. More experimentation means faster development and better products.
But like any trend, product experimentation is a good idea that can easily go wrong. For every game-changing A/B test, there’s a trail of testing mistakes that led well meaning teams down the wrong path. In this guide, you’ll learn about some common ways where A/B testing can go wrong, and you’ll also receive some tips for avoiding these pitfalls in your own experimentation program.