How a simple UI change created 74% more page views for Car & Driver.

1. Make Your Content Useful:
How a simple UI change created 74% more page views

2. Test Design
Experiment ID: Car & Driver Car Buyer’s Guide Test
Test Protocol Number: TP10068
Company Information: A publishing company focused on cars
Research Question: Which car buyer’s widget will produce the buyer’s guide page views?
Experiment Hypothesis: By making the widget a functional search tool rather than a collection
of links, the treatment widget will drive more page views on the Buyer’s Guide.
Experiment Goal: To increase “Buyer’s Guide” page views

3. Experiment: Control

4. Experiment: Treatment
Banner position changed
from right to left.

5. Experiment: Side by Side
Control Treatment

6. Treatments Page Views Relative Difference
Control 45,668 -
Treatment 79,308 74%
Relative increase in page views74%The optimized version increased page view rate by 74%.
Experiment: Results
What You Need to Understand: By making very slight changes to the banner (color,
case, layout, and position) and by increasing the participation factor, we were able to
generate a dramatic lift.
!

7. Experiment: Long Term Results
Due, in part, to this test, the
dropdown widget approach
has been iterated upon and
optimized to this day.