[laichzeit0]

Maybe I’m missing something. The goal of an A/B test is to test a hypothesis. Where that hypothesis comes from is irrelevant. Sure you can waste your time testing stupid hypotheses that don’t have a lot of business impact, but that’s beside the point.

[VyseofArcadia]

No, in big tech the goal of an A/B test to gather data that you can cite in your next performance review so you can increase your odds of getting a good bonus.

[hdjrudni]

A/B testing requires you to build both A and B. Or if you already have A, B can't be so radically different that any comparison is meaningless.

[myhf]

If you hire engineers just to deny them to your competitors, then building B is free.

[kqr]

I agree. The research part of product development should focus on discovering the fundamental laws of the domain. These are fairly constant and pay off for yeara after their discovery. They also help you get a better intuition for the business you are in.

Hypothesis testing is a great way to discover laws.