Experimentation growth: Evolving trustworthy A/B testing capabilities in online software companies
Journal article, 2018

Companies need to know how much value their ideas deliver to customers. One of the most powerful ways to accurately measure this is by conducting online controlled experiments (OCEs). To run experiments, however, companies need to develop strong experimentation practices as well as align their organization and culture to experimentation. The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate how to run OCEs at large scale using the experience of companies that succeeded in scaling. Based on case study research at Microsoft, Booking.com, Skyscanner, and Intuit, we present our main contribution-The Experiment Growth Model. This four-stage model addresses the seven critical aspects of experimentation and can help companies to transform their organizations into learning laboratories where new ideas can be tested with scientific accuracy. Ultimately, this should lead to better products and services.

A/B testing

experimentation growth model

case study

online controlled experimentation

Author

Aleksander Fabijan

Malmö university

Pavel Dmitriev

Outreach

Colin McFarland

Skyscanner

Lukas Vermeer

Booking.com

Helena Holmstrom Olsson

Malmö university

Jan Bosch

Chalmers, Computer Science and Engineering (Chalmers), Software Engineering (Chalmers)

Journal of Software: Evolution and Process

2047-7481 (eISSN)

Vol. 30 12 e2113

Subject Categories

Other Engineering and Technologies not elsewhere specified

Business Administration

Software Engineering

DOI

10.1002/smr.2113

More information

Latest update

2/2/2022 3