Cookie-Based Random Value Assignment for Web Test Groups
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Solution Overview
Problem
E-commerce website providers face challenges in obtaining reliable results from online consumer tests due to the difficulty of randomly assigning users to test groups, especially when multiple tests are running, as user identities are largely unknown, leading to inefficiencies in system resource usage.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that uses a web server module to generate and store random values in cookies, allowing the placement module to assign users to test groups based on a unique test value and random number, ensuring probabilistically independent placement across concurrent tests, thereby minimizing errors and resource consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If users are randomly assigned to test groups using traditional methods, then test result reliability is improved, but system resource consumption increases and assignment efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system generates random assignment values in advance and stores them in cookies on user devices. When a user requests a webpage, the pre-generated random value is retrieved from the cookie and used for group assignment, eliminating the need for real-time random generation and complex identity verification during the assignment process.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of generating new random values during each test assignment, the system creates a copy of the random value in the user's cookie and reuses it across multiple page requests and tests. This copying mechanism allows the same random assignment to be consistently applied without regenerating values, reducing system resource consumption.
2Measurement precision
If user identity verification is performed for random assignment, then assignment accuracy is improved, but system resource consumption and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The user's browser automatically stores and retrieves the random assignment value from the cookie without requiring server-side verification of user identity. The assignment system trusts the client-side stored value, eliminating the need for complex identity verification processes while maintaining assignment accuracy through the pre-generated random value.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple tests run concurrently with traditional assignment methods, then test coverage is improved, but assignment consistency deteriorates and resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cookie-based random value serves multiple functions simultaneously: it assigns users to test groups for multiple concurrent tests, maintains consistent assignment across different page requests, and works across various tests without requiring separate assignment mechanisms. This universal approach ensures assignment consistency while supporting broad test coverage.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method to efficiently and randomly place users into a test group associated with a test running on a website being hosted on a server is disclosed. When a user first accesses the website, a random value is transmitted to the user in such a manner that the random value is stored in a computer-readable memory local to the user. Each subsequent time the user accesses the website, the random value is returned to the server from the user. The server may then place the user into a test group for a test to which the user will be exposed on the website based upon the result of an operation that includes the random value received from the user and a unique test value previously associated with the test.