[QA.NT.4] Enhance user experience gradually through experimentation

Category: RECOMMENDED

Enhancing user experience requires taking a methodical approach to assessing how users behave when using your application and developing features that resonate with users. The goal of running experiments is to identify and implement the best possible user experience based on indirect user behavior. With experiments, teams can proactively assess the impact of new features on a subset of users before a full-scale rollout, reducing the risk of making the change and negatively impacting user experience.

A popular technique for conducting experiments is A/B testing, also known as split testing. To run split testing experiments, present different versions of the application to a small segment of real users to gather detailed feedback on specific changes. This testing is done in a production environment alongside the production application. By directing only a small subset of the users to the version of the application with the change, teams are able to conduct experiments while hiding the new feature from the majority of the user base not included in the test. Testing a feature within a smaller sample, rather than the entire user group, minimizes potential disruptions and yields more detailed data in a real-world setting.

Teams can control the experiment using feature flags or dedicated tools like CloudWatch Evidently to control variables and traffic to the different versions of the application. Ensure the experiment runs for the necessary duration to achieve statistical significance and use consistent metrics to track customer behavior across the variations to maintain accuracy. Compare the metrics after the experiment to make decisions.

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