Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Technically, visitors to a page can be directed to one of the alternative pages
in a variety of ways, including based on random number generation, the exact
time (e.g., an even or odd number of seconds since midnight), or several other
techniques. Typically, a cookie is set to indicate which version the visitor was
shown so that if he or she returns to the site within a specified time period, the
same version will be shown again. Keep in mind that it's important to test the
alternative versions at the same time because of the external factors mentioned
before that could affect the results if you tested at different times.
Holland (2012b) described an A/B test of the page layout for an online news-
paper. As shown in Figure 9.3 , the two versions differed in the relationship of
the photos to the articles they accompanied. In Version A, photos alternated
between the left and the right of the articles. In Version B, photos were always to
Figure 9.3 Two versions of page layout for an online newspaper. In Version A (left), photos for each article
alternated between the left and the right of the article. In Version B (right), they were always to the right.
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