Skills
Test iteration
A test finished. Get ten specific things to try next, each with what changes, why it might work, and what success would look like, grounded in what the last one showed.
When do you reach for Test iteration?
Reach for it at the decision point of every test, including the losers. A loss tells you the mechanism is real and pointed the wrong way, which is a better starting point than a blank page.
What makes an iteration idea usable?
Three things, and an idea missing any of them goes back. What specifically changes, why it might work, and what success looks like as a metric and a direction. The difference is the gap between try different copy and test an outcome-led CTA because the original tested a feature rather than a benefit. One of those can be built on Monday.
Where do ten ideas come from?
Eight angles, so the list is genuinely different rather than one idea wearing eight hats. A list of seven copy tweaks means the angles were skipped.
- Intensity: dial the same change up or down. Was it too subtle, or too much?
- Segment: the same change for a different audience, device or traffic source.
- Timing: the same change at a different point in the visit.
- A different route: same problem, another solution entirely.
- Supporting elements: add or remove what sits around the change.
- Message: a different value proposition or tone.
- Visual weight: hierarchy, prominence, contrast.
- The gaps: test what the last one failed to tell you.
What does grounding actually mean?
Reading everything first. Every past learning, every note on the audience, every documented failure mode, before a single idea gets written. Then each reason carries three parts: the connection to what the last test showed, the supporting evidence, and the mechanism, which is the sentence explaining why this particular change should produce a different result. Without that sentence it is a guess with a citation stapled to it.
What you copy
One block, ready to paste. Nothing else to install unless the block says so.
1---2name: test-iteration3description: Generate around ten specific iteration ideas for a concluded A/B4 test, grounded in the hypothesis, the result and everything already known.5 Use when a test has finished, whether it won, lost or went nowhere.6argument-hint: [test name or result]7---89# Test iteration1011A finished test is an input, not a conclusion. This turns one result into the12next ten things worth trying, with a reason attached to each.1314## Before generating anything1516Gather four things: the result (won, lost, inconclusive), the original17hypothesis, what was learned and what was not, and which metrics moved.1819Then read the whole knowledge base, not a sample of it: every past learning,20every note on the audience, every documented failure mode. Ideas that ignore21what is already known are how a team runs the same test twice with a different22button colour.2324## What separates a strong idea from a weak one2526| Weak | Strong |27| --- | --- |28| "Try different copy" | "Test an outcome-led CTA, because the original tested a feature rather than a benefit" |29| "Make it bigger" | "Increase the CTA by 40% and add whitespace, since the original may have been lost in visual noise" |30| "Test on mobile" | "Mobile-only test with the CTA in the thumb zone, since desktop won and mobile was flat" |3132Every idea answers three questions: what specifically changes, why it might33work, and what success would look like.3435## Eight angles to generate across36371. **Intensity.** Dial the change up or down. Was it too subtle, or too much?382. **Segment.** A different audience: device, new against returning, source.393. **Timing.** The same change at a different moment in the visit.404. **A different route.** Same problem, another solution entirely.415. **Supporting elements.** Add or remove what sits around the change.426. **Message.** A different value proposition or tone.437. **Visual weight.** Hierarchy, prominence, contrast.448. **The gaps.** Test what the last one failed to tell you.4546## Reasoning depth4748Each "why" carries three parts: the connection to what the last test showed,49the supporting evidence (a past test, a documented behaviour, research), and50the mechanism, which is the sentence explaining why this specific change should51produce a different result.5253Without the mechanism it is a guess with a citation attached.5455## Output5657```58[Test] - iteration ideas5960Original: [what ran]61Result: [won / lost / inconclusive] - [headline metric]62Learning: [one or two sentences]6364(1) [Title in sentence case]65 Change: [what specifically changes]66 Why: [connection, evidence, mechanism]67 Success: [metric and direction]6869(2) ... through (10)7071Test first: (1), (2) - [why these]72Worth exploring: (3), (4) - [why]73If there is room: (5) to (10) - [why]74```7576Number ideas as (1), (2), (3) rather than 1. 2. 3. - it survives being pasted77into a tracker that mangles ordered lists.7879## Before you finish8081Check each idea: specific enough to build without another conversation, real82reasoning rather than "let's try it", connected to what the last test showed,83measurable, and not a repeat of something already run. That last one means84running the learnings check over your own output.
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