Abtests

A striking aspect of the new web, web 2.0 if you like, is a frantic evolution that spares nobody in the rush to deploy the latest communication and design concepts. As the web grows older, the vibe is getting younger, more savvy, more demanding and more inclined to follow the new and edgy than to venerate the old. It's not your dad's web, and ideas can get old really fast. So how do site owners keep pace, attract and hold on to their visitors and to use the current term, successfully monetize their online properties?

This site reimagines others and then tests these new site designs, comparing the performance of the old with the new, a with b, hence the name. As I'm not currently a site owner myself it's not a service I can try out and report back on, but fortunately they've gone the extra distance and opened up the test results to the public. We can see what makes a design that bit more special, what consumers (us!) will respond to in the most effective ways. What makes us press that button, spend our money, sign up for memberships?

Even the icons of the web can improve their site performance; Mozilla is here, with a small but highly successful adjustment to the Firefox homepage; even YouTube, which you wouldn't expect to need much help, benefits from a cosmetic makeover. It's a little scary to see how easily we are manipulated and how much thinking goes on behind the scenes to shape and improve that manipulation, but privately we knew all along, didn't we?

If you can stand the jargon, and don't get upset at the thought that you've been deliberately caught, funneled, called to action and converted all without you realizing it, do give this one a look. It's quite fascinating.

The downside right now is that there's very limited content. So if you're interested in the subject you might want to bookmark this one for later.