22.05.2015 Views

How to Use A/B Testing To Enhance Your UX Design

A/B testing is an addition to your skill set and can help enhance your services which you deliver as a designer. A/B testing can help you find out the flaws or bugs in your design once you are ready with the mockup design.

A/B testing is an addition to your skill set and can help enhance your services which you deliver as a designer. A/B testing can help you find out the flaws or bugs in your design once you are ready with the mockup design.

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<strong>How</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Use</strong> A/B <strong>Testing</strong> <strong>To</strong> <strong>Enhance</strong> <strong>Your</strong> <strong>UX</strong> <strong>Design</strong><br />

A/B testing will not sound like a novel concept for you if you have been keeping yourself<br />

updated with design news off late. This concept includes creating two or more page designs and<br />

then offering them <strong>to</strong> a split percentage of visi<strong>to</strong>rs. With the use of a number of metrics<br />

designers can choose a specific design style based on which features can perform at their best.<br />

Though it's a brilliant technique, designers may need some time <strong>to</strong> comprehend and utilize it<br />

completely.<br />

In this blog post, I am presenting some tips for designers who wish <strong>to</strong> gain more knowledge<br />

about A/B testing. Self-learning is the key <strong>to</strong> growth and progress. It also ensures that you are<br />

updated with the latest technologies and can utilize this knowledge in your work. A/B testing is<br />

an addition <strong>to</strong> your skill set and can help enhance your services which you deliver as a designer.


Layout <strong>Design</strong> for A/B testing<br />

Quality website design is created keeping the user in consideration. <strong>To</strong> make interactions unique<br />

and interesting, interactive layouts can be used. A/B testing can help you find out the flaws or<br />

bugs in your design once you are ready with the mockup design.<br />

At the outset, you must analyze the layout for elements which don't serve a purpose. Carefully<br />

look at the but<strong>to</strong>ns or input fields which are specifically used <strong>to</strong> derive user attention. They<br />

must be designed in such a manner that they attract the attention of maximum number of users.<br />

You need <strong>to</strong> emphasize the interactive elements whilst you can simply blend the non-interactive<br />

ones.<br />

Reading Measurements<br />

Based on the number of changes made, each test will give back varying measurements. This<br />

implies that the <strong>to</strong>tal number of days needed for accurate tests may differ a lot. Simply put, A/B<br />

tests involve counting the percentage of specific actions taken by visi<strong>to</strong>rs. Two or more different<br />

layouts are brought forth at random in front of the audience who are unaware about the test.<br />

Here, you need <strong>to</strong> keep a check on the increase in the number of visi<strong>to</strong>rs performing certain<br />

action. This action can include anything from registrations <strong>to</strong> product sales.<br />

Debug and Solve <strong>UX</strong> Problems<br />

A/B testing aims <strong>to</strong> debug any issues with the current design. As a designer, you might be<br />

interested in making your design perfect for enhancing retention rate or <strong>to</strong> increase the number<br />

of clicks.<br />

Prior <strong>to</strong> testing, you must consider the features that may not work with legacy browsers. You<br />

should also analyze the features that require backwards compatibility. You must understand the<br />

impact of these features on retention rates. When you are done with thinking about what needs<br />

<strong>to</strong> be done <strong>to</strong> enhance performance that is when A/B test come in<strong>to</strong> picture.


You can also share your website with a small group of people and collect their opinions. It might<br />

have taken days <strong>to</strong>gether for you <strong>to</strong> create a design and this may give you a wrong idea that<br />

your design is flawless. <strong>How</strong>ever, you must regularly take a break and also check and analyze the<br />

<strong>UX</strong> techniques utilized by other websites.<br />

Tips for Coaxing <strong>Use</strong>r Interaction<br />

Landing pages are the basic layouts for A/B tests. These designs are intended <strong>to</strong> entice action<br />

from a visi<strong>to</strong>r. Attracting attention <strong>to</strong> specific areas of page needs the use of clever ideas such as<br />

using icons, flashy colors, emphasized text, etc. <strong>How</strong>ever, you must stay focused on what users<br />

want <strong>to</strong> do and let the web design serve as a guide <strong>to</strong> the visi<strong>to</strong>r.<br />

For this, Visual Website Optimizer has introduced landing page analyzer which derives basic<br />

results like CTA but<strong>to</strong>ns, banners, and important links. If you are tracking A/B funnels then you<br />

will get verifiable data <strong>to</strong> support the design which is more practical.<br />

<strong>To</strong>ols and Resources:<br />

There are some <strong>to</strong>ols which can be utilized for A/B testing. These <strong>to</strong>ols can be utilized even by<br />

designers who are not well acquainted with the process. With time and practice, you can get<br />

acquainted with A/B split testing. <strong>How</strong>ever, <strong>to</strong> derive valuable results you must test valuable<br />

metrics.


Visual Website Optimizer: This exciting split testing platform offers a number of case-studies,<br />

how-<strong>to</strong>s, and intro guides for A/B testing. The features page provides information on A/B test<br />

integration. It also enlightens about tracking statistics on user dashboard. You can also check<br />

performance o designs based on your cus<strong>to</strong>m metrics.<br />

Optimizely: Though this platform doesn't really specialize in A/B split testing, you can track<br />

analytics from any website or application <strong>to</strong> view the areas which attracted highest user<br />

attention or interaction. You may also test the duration of time visi<strong>to</strong>rs stay on each page and<br />

see if different interfaces could change these results. Optimzely offers free plan but with limited<br />

testing functionalities.<br />

Unbounce: <strong>Use</strong>d usually by marketing professionals and webmasters, with little technical<br />

knowledge, this platform is also helpful in launching websites and cus<strong>to</strong>mized templates.<br />

Without any coding knowledge it allows you <strong>to</strong> create a simple landing page and measure user<br />

reactions. Their A/B testing page will give you more information about the working of the<br />

Unbounce platform.<br />

Google Experiments: This is the most affordable solution for free testing. It runs via Google's<br />

Analytics platform. <strong>How</strong>ever, you need <strong>to</strong> be experienced with Google Analytics prior <strong>to</strong> shifting<br />

on<strong>to</strong> Content Experiments. Those of you who are amateurs <strong>to</strong> this platform may go through any<br />

tu<strong>to</strong>rial which explains Google's Experiments platform from the scratch.<br />

Web designers, in a way, serve as web developers and are now their role is extending <strong>to</strong>wards<br />

the marketing niche as well. <strong>How</strong>ever, with A/B techniques they can hone their designing skills.<br />

Following the tips and <strong>to</strong>ols, in this blog post, will make you an expert at performing split tests.

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