Will Marlow

Split-testing, or A/B testing, is one of the most important concepts in designing new features on a website.  Anyone can do it for a very small amount of money (if you know how), but I wanted to share a real-time example of split-testing in action.

   

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Facebook_Is_Doing_Split-Testin.zip (115 KB)

Facebook is currently testing a new user-interface, which means they may be gearing up for a major overhaul.  My fiance (Photo A) logs into Facebook and sees the new layout, while I (Photo B) login to Facebook and see the old version.  Facebook's analysts will measure the clicks of group A and compare them to group B, and if the analysts determine that group A is more productive or optimal against its metrics, they'll implement the changes for all of Facebook's users.  Click the images above to see the different layouts that Facebook is testing.

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One book I highly recommend for learning about how to design a usable website is Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug.  This book should be your starting point if your job depends on you understanding the fundamentals of maintaining or designing a functional website.  It takes about two to three hours to read, and each page has useful insights.  

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A reader pointed out that I referred to something in a recent post called “A/B testing,” but I did not define it.  Essentially, A/B testing is something you do when you are re-designing a web site or building new software, in order to find out if a new change will be popular among your users.  You set up an A/B test in which one visitor to your web site (visitor "A") sees the original feature, and another visitor to your web site (visitor "B") sees the new feature, and then you compare the behavior of Group A and Group B.  The results of this type of test frequently are among the strongest factors in determining which features become a part of a web site.  (When it comes to building a company like AlumniFidelity, which has products that live exclusively on the web, A/B testing should be done as often as possible to help you make sure the product fits the market the way you want it to.)

It used to be that A/B testing was the type of thing that only major companies like Google did.  But now it takes know-how more than money to make A/B testing a part of your operation.  The cost is really the time it takes you to learn how to use the free tools (or the fees you pay to the consultant you hire to do the work for you).  You can begin with two free tools in Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer, and you can get started with A/B testing on your web site.

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