Get Started with Mobile A/B Testing using ONE Easy Test

I talk to a lot of app developers and product managers on a regular basis about A/B testing their mobile app. The feedback I hear the most is:

“I know I need to start A/B testing, but we just haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

The feeling is that A/B testing mobile is a big undertaking and therefore daunting. But it doesn’t have to be. Just as every journey starts with a single step, a culture of experimentation can start with one simple test. Here are few first tests that are easy to implement.

Icons

Icons are really simple to A/B test because they require no logic or layout change to the app yet they’re really important. Often, icons are buttons that you expect the user to tap without really knowing what the icon means until after they tap it for the first time. How do you know the icon is properly representing the call to action fully? You can’t until you test it.

SafeTrek, a proactive safety app that can call the police for you in times of emergency, tested the share icon in their app and increased sharing rates by over 9 times. Rather than stick to the standard share icon that looks like alien fingers (or does it just look like alien fingers to me?), they tested out two alternatives that they thought better represented the idea of sharing life with your friends.

The best part about this was that building this test was incredibly easy. It didn’t require them to change any other part of their app. Yet the success of this test is exciting for the whole team and helps to promote an experimental culture.

Copy

Headline and button copy is another thing that’s really easy to test. Like icons, it doesn’t require changes to other parts of the app.

Medisafe tested these 7 messages to send their customers. Below is the top, worst, and best performer. Can you guess which is which?

a) Help us keep MediSafe free. Invite your friends.
b) Spread the love. Let others enjoy MediSafe too.
c) We hate ads! Help us keep MediSafe ads-free by inviting your friends.

Conclusion.

As you can see, getting started with A/B testing doesn’t have to be a huge ordeal. Start by testing one thing that doesn’t require a lot of changes to other parts of your app.