Introducing the 2016 Testing Toolkit

What did you learn in 2015? And who did you learn it from?

Inspiration and education can come from a variety of sources. But of all the reports, blogs, conferences, consultants, and mentors you could learn from, the most important source of knowledge is your customers. Striving to observe, learn from, and understand your customers will uncover insights that can strengthen and grow your business in previously unimagined ways.

With testing and conversion rate optimization, the keys to uncovering customer insights are squarely in your control. That’s why, in 2016, it’s best to keep asking questions as experiments and tests. Seek the truth over opinions and look for data when it’s available to make your guesses as educated as possible.

What will you learn and accomplish in 2016, with testing and conversion rate optimization at your disposal?

Introducing the 2016 Testing Toolkit

We want to make sure 2016 is the your best year yet; that you make decisions grounded in data and customer understanding, and that your ambitious goals are within reach.

That’s why we’ve put together a toolkit of resources to help you start or grow an A/B testing and conversion rate optimization (CRO) program. Whether you’re on test number one or 1,000, the tools inside this toolkit can help make sure you run more winning experiments this year than ever before.

What’s Included in the Toolkit?

In the 2016 Testing Toolkit we include resources to craft, execute, and measure individual experiments, while building thorough research and ideation into your process. You’ll also find helpful tips from other Optimizely users, as well as tools for educating your colleagues about the benefits of optimization, and building adoption internally.

The toolkit includes:

• Infographic of Test Ideas by Industry
• Test Ideation and Hypothesis Generation Worksheets
• Test Idea Prioritization Frameworks
• Test Plan Template
• Results Sharing Presentation Template
• Testing Overview Presentation Template
• Test Idea Submission Flyer Template
• Testing Hackathon Flyer Template

Read on for a preview of each tool, or download the entire toolkit now.

Worksheets to generate and strengthen new ideas

Check out our top test ideas by industry if you’re looking for a good place to get started.

First, a few Testing Ideas to get started. It’s best to come up with your own that take your unique business needs into account, but sometimes new ideas can help get a brainstorm started. Whether you’re in e-commerce, travel, media, or B2B, we have plenty of ideas that you should try!

Use the Test Idea Framework worksheet to take an experiment from brainstorm to ready-to-build.

Once you have an idea you’d like to test, use the Test Idea Worksheet and Hypothesis Worksheet to ensure that your theory is well-supported by qualitative and quantitative data, and that you have concrete next steps that will help you get your experiment built and launched.

Templates to plan and execute your 2016 tests

Once you have a handful of ideas to test, prioritization is essential. Use one of the included Prioritization Frameworks to determine how you’ll surface and organize your best test ideas.

Manage and track ongoing and archived experiments with the Test Plan template.

This ensures that your ideas with the greatest potential to generate business impact are executed first. Prioritization is an active, ongoing process. As new ideas come up, they’re evaluated against all of the other potential ideas; great ideas can be accelerated, but every idea gets a fair chance and waits to be queued up to get built.

Documenting and tracking tests are essential, both to demonstrate your learning and success, but also to build institutional knowledge that can last beyond the lifespan of any one test or initiative. Use the Test Plan Template to document all of your essential testing and optimization program data. Documenting why an experiment succeeded or failed (and why) can be essential in building future hypotheses and in developing a more sophisticated understanding of key customer segments.

Presentations and flyers to build a culture of testing and learning

The editable Results Sharing Presentation template can be used for meetings, or to send to an internal email alias.

Tracking and sharing experiment results are essential steps to ensure that your testing program runs smoothly and efficiently. Interesting wins, or lessons learned, can also help to pique the interest of a team member or testing ally. Make sure your results are documented completely and succinctly with the Toolkit’s editable Results Sharing Template.

Once you’ve fielded enough questions about your testing endeavors, or have garnered enough interest, try hosting a Lunch and Learn meeting to showcase what you (or your team) have been working on. Use the Testing Overview Presentation to explain testing concepts and showcase your process.

These editable flyers can help promote internal testing initiatives and build an inclusive culture of testing.

Finally, if you’re ready to take testing to a company-wide level try hosting your first idea submission contest or A/B testing hackathon! The included flyers in the Toolkit give you an editable template to start your internal promotion.

All of these resources are now available for download, compliments of the team at Optimizely. We’re wishing you a very optimized start to 2016, and can’t wait to hear your success stories.