# A/B test

> Showing two versions of a page or element to matched halves of the traffic at the same time and measuring which one produces more of the outcome wanted, with enough visitors for the difference to be more than chance.

Source: https://barkingcat.ai/terms-of-trade/ab-test/

## Terms of Trade · Edition 3: The technology proposal

Definition

Showing two versions of a page or element to matched halves of the traffic at the same time and measuring which one produces more of the outcome wanted, with enough visitors for the difference to be more than chance. The discipline that replaces opinion with evidence, when it is run with a hypothesis and not merely a button.

Field note

A/B testing is the polite way ecommerce departments tell you that your ideas are stupid.

Board question

How many tests ran last quarter, how many reached significance, and what did the winners change about how we trade?

Applied through

[Commercial Discipline](https://barkingcat.ai/the-cats-whiskers/commercial-discipline/) in the Cat’s Whiskers; [the Review](https://barkingcat.ai/review/) resolves to one binding constraint precisely so the testing programme has something worth testing.

Related terms
- [Conversion rate](https://barkingcat.ai/terms-of-trade/conversion-rate/)
- [Incrementality](https://barkingcat.ai/terms-of-trade/incrementality/)
- [Personalisation](https://barkingcat.ai/terms-of-trade/personalisation/)
- [Core Web Vitals](https://barkingcat.ai/terms-of-trade/core-web-vitals/)

## Contact

steve@barkingcat.ai

Barking Cat Advisory Limited. Registered in England and Wales, company number 17338003.