If we can't track the value of something, does it mean it doesn't exist?

I just want to say upfront, I am pro-experimentation. I’m an experimentation evangelist. I believe more experimenting is almost always a good thing. At the same time, I think there is a trap:

“What we track is all that exists.”

I think this trap manifests clearly in our views on carousels. Carousels are kind of extensions of hero panels: panels that communicate a brand identity. Where brand identity doesn’t fit neatly into a static panel, a carousel is used.

Shouldn't we aim to have everything fit into a single static panel? Yes. A static panel is often best. It is most often best for many companies, but not all companies.

Communication of an idea or brand is not limited to words and images. It’s sometimes made through contradictions, through the scope of ideas, through taking your mind for a mini-trip. Take the Marvel site, for instance:

The top panel is a carousel, designed to convey the range of characters and comic releases. If I were in charge of Marvel Comics, would I care that only the first two panels get some clicks and the rest don’t? No, I wouldn’t care. The purpose is to communicate, and so the carousel serves its purpose.

By the way, Amazon have a carousel. Audible, too.

But hey, why not stack carousel items on a page and let users scroll through them? Well, that would get in the way of the books that we want people to click on. The point of a carousel is that it takes up a limited amount of space and passively communicates. Active participation is a bonus.

The trap is that seeing how few people click on the first couple of slides of the carousel, we quickly assume this indicates a problem. Is it a problem? “Impressions” is the important metric.

And so there’s another trap by tracking “impressions” and seeing how few people see the latter slides indicates a problem. Is that a problem either? By that rationale, conversion rate on my site is low; should I remove the buy button?

Now, I know what you’re going to say:

“Hey, that’s conversion you’re talking about. How dare you! That’s money!”

To which I’d say, money is just a description of something of value. Brand identity and communication also have value and are a precursor to money (Oof, burn!).

Now, brand identity or affinity can be measured in different ways, but it’s tough to track as quantifiably as conversion. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist or is not important.

Okay, so what’s my point here? Are all carousels good? No. And remember, this isn’t about carousels. My point is, avoid the trap of thinking that all we see as clicks is all we see. Just because a metric isn’t being tracked or can’t be tracked, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Thoughts? By the way, we spoke about this at the GRO Talks Roundtable, and the subject kept me thinking until now.