Updated: Mar 29
Today we are going to give a quick introduction to AB testing. Now you may be wondering what is AB testing? Simply put AB testing is a statistical way of comparing two or more versions like version A or version B to determine which version performs better, and to understand if a difference between two versions is statistically significant. Our market research online community platform allows for a multitude of market research activities, one of which is AB testing. In this article we will walk you through the basics of AB testing to ensure you create the best products possible for your customers.
Why do businesses conduct AB tests? Businesses these days have to take a data driven approach. A common misconception companies face is that they think they understand their customer. However, in reality customers behave differently than you think. The choices your customers make are ruled by so many unseen factors that they themselves don’t understand. Whether consciously or subconsciously the choices users make depend on a wide range of factors. This is why running an experiment, or an AB test allows you to find out more accurate results. It can be very humbling seeing customers behave much differently than you originally predicted.
Let’s take a look at an example in marketing to better understand this concept. Imagine you are designing two different sales packages you want to send to potential customers. Say you take the page layout and move the content body from the right versus from the left. Maybe you change the contact us from blue to orange, or the title from sale to discount. For AB testing to work you must define your metrics for success before you start your test. Start with your hypothesis. Define what you think will happen when you go from A to B. In order to run the AB test with statistically significant results, you should do this with multiple versions.
Some factors to consider when conducting an AB test both in an experience management platform or MROC, is how moving content or items and changing colors can affect the decisions being made. This can help you understand when the content is too cluttered or when the flow seems crystal clear to the user. If you would like to find out more about how you can conduct AB Testing in a market research online community, please feel free to contact us.
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