This course has included a lot of ways that psychology can be used to make things look and feel better than they would otherwise. But what if you have to choose between two psychological strategies?

Sometimes A/B Testing is the Only Way to Know

(Just starting the User Psych Crash Course? Start here.)

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Eventually you will come to a design choice that is psychology vs. psychology. Motivation vs. motivation. Emotion vs. emotion.

Maybe you have to choose between creating trust in your company or creating trust in the product you’re selling.

Maybe you have to choose between promoting the exclusive status of the brand, or the popularity of the brand.

In those situations, there is no way to base your decisions on theory. And asking users face-to-face is not reliable unless you plan to ask 10,000 of them.

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Sometimes A/B testing is the only way to know.

Design both. Make them exactly the same except for that psychological detail.

Launch both in real life. Compare the results, and go with the winner.

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Always trust the science.