The Testing Trap
Meaningful design decisions flow from clear intent, not from data.
“We don’t know what people want. We don’t even know what they do.”
This confession — which so many clients never truly say but should — drives an almost compulsive need for testing and validation. Heat maps, A/B tests, user surveys — we’ve built an entire industry around the promise that enough data can bridge the gap between uncertainty and understanding.
But here’s what testing actually tells us: what users do in artificial scenarios. It doesn’t tell us what they want, and it certainly doesn’t tell us what we should want them to do. We’ve confused observation with insight.
A heat map might show where users click, but it won’t reveal why they click there or whether those clicks align with your business objectives. User testing might reveal pain points in your interface, but it won’t tell you if solving those pain points serves your strategic goals.
The uncomfortable truth is that meaningful design decisions flow from clear intent, not from data. If you know exactly what outcome you want to achieve, you can design toward that outcome without needing to validate every decision with testing.
This isn’t an argument against testing entirely. It’s an argument for testing with purpose. Before running any test, ask yourself:
- Do you have the intent to act on what you find?
- Do you have the means to act on what you find?
If the answer to either question is no, you’re not testing for insight — you’re testing for comfort. You’re seeking permission to make decisions you should be making based on clear strategic intent.
The most successful digital products weren’t built by following heat maps. They were built by teams with crystal-clear visions of what they wanted users to achieve. Testing can refine the path to that vision, but it can’t replace the vision itself.
Written by Christopher Butler on
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