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Count the app visits after a push message, not only the clicks
A field test with about 1 million app users found that clicks caused only about 34% of the effect of a push message. Learn how to measure the other 66%.
2 days ago4 min read


Keep normal search next to AI answers in your product
In a 7-day test with 1,100 Google users, search with only AI answers decreased satisfaction, trust and the number of searches. Keep the normal search results next to your AI answers.
2 days ago4 min read


Test before you remove options, because more choice often does no harm
A review of 50 experiments with 5,036 people found that, on average, more choice did not decrease purchases. The effect was large in some studies. In other studies, there was no effect.
Oct 102 min read


End each user session on a good moment
A trial with 682 colonoscopy patients found that patients remembered a slightly longer procedure with a gentler end as less painful. These patients were also more likely to return.
Oct 102 min read


Invite users to start new habits on Mondays and other new starts
Gym visits, searches for "diet" and goal sign-ups all increased after fresh-start dates. Fresh-start dates are dates such as a new week, a new month and a birthday.
Oct 102 min read


Give your developers an AI code assistant for clear, well-defined tasks
In a GitHub test with 95 developers, the group with GitHub Copilot finished a coding task 55.8% faster than the group without it.
Oct 102 min read


Show users the work that your product does while they wait
Harvard tests on travel and dating sites found that people often liked a slower search more when the site showed the work that it did. When people saw the effort, the result felt more valuable.
Oct 102 min read


Test small ideas too, because 1 of them can be worth millions
At Bing, a small change to the ad headlines increased revenue by 12%. Nobody tested the idea for months, because the team thought that it was not important.
Oct 102 min read


Help users get value from a flat fee, or they will leave
A study of 7,752 gym members found that people on a monthly plan paid more than $70 a month and went 4.3 times. They paid about $17 per visit when a $10 visit pass was available.
Oct 102 min read


Let users build part of the product, and they will value it more
In a Harvard test, people who built an IKEA box themselves would pay 63% more for it. The same box built by someone else was worth less to them.
Oct 102 min read


Turn on the good option for users, and let them turn it off
When a large US company enrolled new staff in its retirement plan by default, the share in the plan went from 37% to 86%. Most people also kept the default savings rate.
Oct 102 min read


Choose your defaults with care, because most users keep them
In an online test, 82% of people stayed organ donors when that was the default. Only 42% chose it when they had to opt in.
Oct 102 min read


Count the long-run cost before you add more ads to a free tier
A 21-month Pandora experiment with almost 35 million listeners found that each extra ad per hour cut listening time by about 2%. A short test can miss most of this cost.
Oct 103 min read


Expect more work when your chatbot says a human may help
A field test with 8,966 telecom customers found that a chatbot that disclosed human help got longer messages. The authors estimate that human work cost 38% to 70% more.
Oct 103 min read


Track variety, not only clicks, when you personalize recommendations
A Spotify test with 852,937 users found that personal podcast picks raised listening by 28.90%. But the mix of podcasts for each user became less varied.
Oct 103 min read


Test your retention calls first, because some push customers away
A field experiment with 64,147 phone customers found that calls to suggest a better plan raised churn from 6.4% to 10.0%. The calls made customers think about leaving.
Oct 103 min read


Offer a shorter free trial, and more users will pay
A field experiment with 337,724 software users found that a 7-day free trial beat a 30-day trial. Subscriptions went up by 5.59% and revenue by 7.92%.
Oct 103 min read


Do not trick users into sign-ups, even when it works
In a test with 1,963 US adults, mild dark patterns more than doubled sign-ups for a doubtful service. Aggressive dark patterns almost quadrupled sign-ups, but made people angry.
Oct 103 min read


Test more ideas with smaller tests to find the rare big win
A study of 1,450 Bing experiments found that the top 2% of ideas made 74.8% of the gains. This result favors many small tests over a few large tests.
Oct 103 min read


Run A/B tests as a habit, and your product will learn faster
A study of 35,918 startups found that firms with A/B testing tools got more page views and launched more products. They also stopped bad ideas faster.
Oct 103 min read
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