"A Liger, it's pretty much my favorite animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills in magic."

How did I become an Optimization Test Designer in a world that just now understands what the heck Optimization really is?  First, I got lucky.  I was working at ZAAZ as an accountant, a workplace that is way ahead of its time, and I was working in a field where I used the left-side of my brain daily.  Second,
I committed to learning something new.
At ZAAZ, we have bi-monthly meetings where we discuss the great work we do, which is when I first heard about Optimization, about 2 and half years ago.  This new field was just being discovered, and turns out, uses both the left  right side of your brain… very appealing to someone who speaks in debits and credits 40 hours a week.

You see, outside of work, I am actually a creative person.  I paint, love photography, cook, knit, grew up playing the piano and have an eye for interior design.  I longed to find a career where I could blend the two, which is exactly what Optimization does.  I liken it to the life of a Liger,
an anomaly in the workplace, and now I've found a home in a place that accepts me 100 percent. 

Let's look at the steps that go
into designing an Optimization test:

1) Examine a website and determine the areas you think could use improvement (creative)

a) Look at high-level analytics data to help determine the best areas to test, whether it be high-traffic pages or problems within the purchase funnel resulting in high bounce rates (analytical)

2) Look at the logistical aspects of running a test (analytical)

a) Determine the amount of traffic coming into that site to ensure actual results (analytical)

b) Determine how many variants to include to determine how long you need to run the test (analytical)

c) Run a duration calculator with the aboveinformation to nail down specifics (analytical)

3) Work with the additional departments to establish the best possible variants (creative)

a) Consult with the UX department to consider the usability of each variant (creative)

b) Work with the creative department to determine the best look and feel of each variant (creative)

4) Work with an Optimization tool to actually run the test (analytical)

5) Determine a winner based on statistical significance (analytical)

a) Run a difference of means test to determine a winner at 90 percent confidence (analytical)

6) Create a results document to be presented to the client (creative)

As you can see, having a career in Optimization is like having the best of both worlds.  It's the perfect career for someone like me, someone who enjoys being creative but just happens to also like math!

Optimization, it's pretty much my favorite job. It's like an accountant
and designer mixed... bred for its skills in awesomeness.