Never -- never! -- going to market without testing the user experience first.
One morning in September 1997, visitors to the home page of GeoCities were accosted by a little girl screaming, "Hey! Let me in!" at them. Not only was this seen as somewhat rude, but the problem was also compounded when many users couldn't figure out where the heck the voice was coming from.
The audio was supposed to be associated with an AT&T ad, which contained animation that would have made the whole thing make sense. But the audio produced a "WTF?" experience on GeoCities, owing to the fact that it started playing before people had a chance to scroll down below the fold and actually see the companion ad. Needless to say, Modem Media, AT&T's agency at the time, made some changes to the campaign to create a better user experience.
Though nearly a decade old, this classic blunder serves as a reminder that when we're breaking new ground with campaigns, we ought to test ads before going out to the general market to make sure the user experience is consistent with what was intended. Sometimes, both agency and client get so used to seeing an ad or campaign in a controlled test environment that they really need fresh eyes to take a look, to make sure people interpret the campaign the way they're supposed to. That fresh pair of eyes can be a formal focus group, a usability testing lab or even just a buddy looking over your shoulder. Any of these might have revealed AT&T's gaffe before it went live on some of the most trafficked sites on the internet.
