Disguising the test address


 

Some tools let us specify the web address (URL) that participants will see when they do the test. This address is often auto-generated from the name we give to the test.

For example, for the “Acme topic – final” test shown in Naming the test earlier in this chapter, the test address might be something like this:

https://yourtool.com/acme-topic-final

 

There are two reasons why we might want to change this default address:

  • Giving away the grouping method
    An observant user may notice the address and see that the tree is based on topics (rather than, say, audience):

    https://yourtool.com/acme-by-topic

    This is a minor giveaway, but we still recommend changing the address to something less descriptive, such as:

    https://yourtool.com/acme-tree-1

 

  • Giving away the client’s identity
    If we’re doing a blind test (where the participants are not supposed to know who the site owner is, for whatever reason), a quick glance at the web address can blow our cover:

    https://yourtool.com/walmart-study-1

    We can keep the test blind by using a generic address like this:

    https://yourtool.com/study-1

 


Next: Selecting languages

 


Copyright © 2016 Dave O'Brien

This guide is covered by a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.