Marissa Mayer's 41 Shades of Blue: The Color Test That Made Google Millions
So, have you heard of Marissa Mayer? If not, you really should. Let me share how this tech trailblazer's obsession with data led her to test 41 shades of blue at Google—resulting in an extra $200 mill
So, have you heard of Marissa Mayer?🤔 If not, you really should. She's this incredible tech executive who played a pivotal role at Google before becoming the CEO of Yahoo. Back when she was at Google—she joined as employee number 20 and was one of their first female engineers—she did something that perfectly captures Google's data-driven spirit.
Let me tell you about the time Marissa decided to test 41 shades of blue to find the perfect hue for Google's links. Yes, you heard that right—41 shades!
So here's how it went down. Around the mid-2000s, Google was trying to optimise the user experience on their site, and part of that was figuring out the best colour for their link text. Marissa, who was the Vice President of Search Products and User Experience at the time, believed that even the smallest details could make a huge difference. She was all about backing decisions with data.🧠
Now, instead of just picking a blue that looked nice, Marissa proposed an A/B test. But this wasn't just any A/B test—it was an A/B/C/... all the way to N test! They tested 41 different shades of blue to see which one users interacted with the most.
Some of the designers weren't thrilled. I remember reading about how Douglas Bowman, Google's Visual Design Lead back then, felt about it. He said, "I had a recent debate over whether a border should be 3, 4, or 5 pixels wide, and was asked to test each in order to see which one performed better." 😵Eventually, he left Google, partially because of this intense data-driven approach.
But here's the kicker—the test worked! By finding the exact shade of blue that users were more likely to click on, Google reportedly increased their annual ad revenue by $200 million. Can you believe that? A simple colour tweak leading to hundreds of millions in revenue!
Most impressively, Marissa was around 30 years old when this happened, and her background is just as impressive. She graduated with honours from Stanford University with a degree in symbolic systems and a master's in computer science. 🧠She's always been someone who blends technical expertise with a keen eye for user experience.
This whole 41 shades of blue story isn't just about colour preferences—it's a testament to how data can drive decision-making in business. Marissa once said, "Data is apolitical." She believed that letting the users decide through their actions was more democratic than having decisions made by the highest-paid person's opinion.
It's fascinating to think about how such a meticulous approach to something as seemingly small as link colour could have such a massive impact. It makes you wonder what other subtle changes could lead to big results, doesn't it?
So next time you click on a link and don't think twice about its colour, remember that there's someone like Marissa Mayer who might have tested dozens of shades just to make that experience a tiny bit better—and a lot more profitable.
