If you missed the Super Bowl last night, no need to fear spoilers here. I don’t know who won or lost, and I don’t remember any particularly impressive football moments (I do enjoy the occasional intense almost-lost touchdown or crazy avoid-all-tackles run). But I did watch the commercials, and there’s one commercial every user experience professional should watch.
What if PuppyMonkeyBaby was a Product?
Let’s ignore the marketing value of this monstrosity of a creature for a moment. I want to focus on the creature itself. It reminds me of every time a client has said “we want to be a combination of Uber and Amazon.” Or “people love milkshakes, and everyone needs healthcare. So let’s combine the two!”
Yes, puppies are adorable. Monkeys are hilarious. And babies are sweet. But much like yogurt and shampoo, motorcycles and cologne, lifesavers and soda, or cheetos and lip gloss, they don’t compliment one another well.
Two things being great does not mean they’ll be great together. (Reeses is the exception.)
This is why we have user testing.
User Testing is Necessary
User testing stops us from going to market with ideas that sound great but don’t work, and it gets us out of our own heads. It lets us see what our audience thinks. It can take the form of desirability testing, usability testing, or user interviews.
The next time your clients say “is user testing really necessary?” Just show them this video. The answer is yes. Yes, test. Test, for the love of all that is holy. Test, and help us prevent PuppyMonkeyBabies.
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