Can You Measure the Impact of Typography?

This past weekend I spent on Texel – a Dutch island – with over 200 experimentation and CRO experts at a conference called Conversion Hotel. Organiser Ton Wesseling saw me speak at uxcon Vienna 2024 and invited me to give an evening talk. It should be entertaining, of course, but also offer perspectives that are not that common in this group. So my dramatic passion for typography was a perfect fit.

What struck me was how isolated the experimentation niche felt – at least from where I was standing – from the broader UX and design industry. Or maybe I just didn’t see them before? Like their own little universe. Compared to UX folks, who might lean more idealistically, the experimentation crowd focuses on achieving and measuring real outcomes.

As an outsider to this industry, I learned a lot:

• The term “Experimentation”: I’d describe it like this – how can you craft scenarios and measure them (mostly with A/B tests) so you can make better business decisions?
• CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) is a part of that, but not always the main goal.
• Growth hacking is not well received here. It’s seen as deceptive. This group wants to do things ethically, solidly, honestly.
• There’s