Think for a second about the last time you needed to create a form on your site. Whether it was for a shopping cart or lead generation, it probably had a field where you asked the customer to select one of multiple options. Perhaps the field was: • Credit card type • Subscription length option • Company revenue range • “Yes” or “no” to newsletter opt-in Whatever it was, you probably didn’t think too hard about whether you should use a dropdown or a radio button to let your visitor select their option. Most of us decide quickly as we’re creating the form in our CMS or form software. But what if choosing the right format, radio buttons or dropdowns, for a single question in your form meant seeing a performance differential of 15%? In this Web clinic, we’ll walk you through an experiment where that was exactly the case. Getting the question format right generated a 15% lift in total orders.

1. Radio Buttons vs. Dropdowns
How knowing the right way to collect customer information
led to a 15% lift in orders

2. We’re sharing on Twitter!
#WebClinic

3. Today’s speakers
Austin McCraw
Director
Content Production
Jon Powell
Senior Manager
Research and Strategy
MECLABS
@McOptimize
MECLABS
@jonpowell31
Lauren Pitchford
Optimization Manager
MECLABS

4. Experiment: Background
Experiment ID: TP1774
Record Location: MECLABS Research Library
Research Partner: [Protected]
Background: A large people search company catering to customers searching for
military personnel.
Goal: To significantly increase the total number of subscriptions.
Research Question: Which subscription option format will produce the highest
subscription rate: a dropdown or radio button?
Test Design: A/B single factorial split test

5. Experiment: Treatment 1
Treatment 1

6. Experiment: Treatment 2
Treatment 2

7. Experiment: Side-by-side
Treatment 1
Treatment 2
Which treatment won?

8. Experiment: Results
15% Relative increase in orders
In this case, the radio button field outperformed the dropdown field by 15% in order rate.
Design
Order Rate
Stat. Significance
Treatment 1 – Radio Buttons
11.73%
-
Treatment 2 – Dropdown
10.69%
-
14.6%
92%
% Relative Change:

9. Experiment analysis
Treatment 1
Treatment 2
15%
Order Rate
Shouldn’t the shorter form produce better results?

10. What we discovered
F
Key Principles
1. One of the most effective ways to improve the performance of the webpage is to
reduce friction (psychological resistance).

11. What is friction?
Definition: Friction
Physics: A force that resists the relative motion or tendency to such motion of
two bodies in contact.
Marketing: Psychological resistance to a given element in the sales process.
For more on friction: MECLABS.com/LPO

12. What is friction?
From this
To this
Protocol ID: TP1267
40%
Revenue per Visit

13. What is friction?
Protocol ID: TP1341
From this
To this
189%
In Conversion

14. What is friction?
Protocol ID: TP1291
From this
To this
201%
Capture Rate
• Treatment asks
for one less
piece of
information

15. What we discovered
F
Key Principles
1. One of the most effective ways to improve the performance of the webpage is to
reduce friction (psychological resistance).
2. However, in our attempts to minimize friction (length-oriented), we must beware
of undermining the conversation with the customer in 2 ways:
i.
Intensifying difficulty-oriented friction

16. Danger #1. Increasing difficulty
fSC = lT + dT
©
Wherein:
fSC = Friction of sales conversion
lT = Length (time)
dT = Difficulty
Design Elements
• Eye Path
• Options Selection
• Button Design
• Organization
• Flash Video
For more on friction: MECLABS.com/LPO

17. Danger #1. Increasing difficulty
• By moving from a
radio to dropdown
field, we significantly
reduced the
perceived length of
the form.
Radio
Dropdown

18. Danger #1. Increasing difficulty
• However, length is only
one form of friction. By
reducing the length, we
inadvertently increased
difficulty.
• Now, instead of clearly
seeing all of the options
available to the
customer, they have to
click and squint to
examine the options.
Dropdown

19. Danger #1. Increasing difficulty
Example
Protocol ID: TP1666
Page 1
Version A
Page 2
Page 3
• Version A is a 3-step cart
checkout process. The
length of the process is
significant.
• Our analysts
hypothesized that by
shortening the steps into
a one-page accordion
checkout process, we
could reduce lengthoriented friction.

20. Danger #1. Increasing difficulty
Example
Protocol ID: TP1666
Page 1
Version A
Version B
Page 2
Page 3
Page 1
29%
Conversion Rate

21. Danger #1. Increasing difficulty
Example
Version B
Page 1
!
What You Need to Understand: While we
may have reduced length, we increased
the perceived difficulty of the checkout.
As a result, the conversion rate dropped.
29%
Conversion Rate

22. Danger #1. Increasing difficulty
Example
Protocol ID: TP1055
Control
Treatment
60%
In Revenue
!
What You Need to Understand: By not suggesting donation amounts, we made
the form shorter, but the value of the donation was undermined by 60%.

23. What we discovered
F
Key Principles
1. One of the most effective ways to improve the performance of the webpage is to
reduce friction (psychological resistance).
2. However, in our attempts to minimize friction (length-oriented), we must beware
of undermining the conversation with the customer in 2 ways:
i.
Intensifying difficulty-oriented friction
ii.
Eliminating necessary value force

24. Danger #2. Undermining value
Cost
Force
Value
Force
VfAc - CfAc = Nf

25. Danger #2. Undermining value
Treatment 1
Treatment 2
?
How might Treatment 2 be
undermining the value in
Treatment 1?

26. Danger #2. Undermining value
Treatment 1
?
Which price format do you
see first in Treatment 1?
a. Per month
b. Total

27. Danger #2. Undermining value
Treatment 2
?
Which price format do you
see first in Treatment 2?
a. Per month
b. Total

28. Danger #2. Undermining value
Treatment 1
• By de-emphasizing the savings
and/or placing the total price
before the monthly price in
Treatment 2, we undermined
the value.
Treatment 2
• Between the lack of emphasis
or and/or the point-first
structure of the price, the
savings are clearly bolded and
easier to understand in
Treatment 1.

29. Danger #2. Undermining value
Experiment - Background
Experiment IDs: TP1662
Record Location: MECLABS Research Library
Research Partner: (Protected)
Background: An addiction and mental health rehabilitation facility.
Goal: Increase the total number of leads captured.
Primary Research Question: Which page will obtain the most form submissions?
Approach: A/B multifactor split

30. Danger #2. Undermining value
Experiment - Treatment
Version A
• Version A is long copy
information on the treatment
centers.
• The call-to-action is at the
bottom of the page.

31. Danger #2. Undermining value
Experiment - Control
Version B
• Version B short-form page
template with a rotating
banner.
• Call-to-action is on the righthand side above the fold.

32. Danger #2. Undermining value
Experiment - Results
69% Relative decrease in capture rate
The shorter version B decreased capture rate by 69%.
Design
Capture Rate
Version A
2.48%
Version B
0.78%
% Relative Change:
!
68.5%
What You Need to Understand: The shorter length of the page made it more
difficult for the right customers to gain the information they needed. By
decreasing the length, conversions decreased by 69%.

33. Danger #2. Undermining value
Experiment - Treatment
Protocol ID: 1700
Treatment
Control
36%
In Total Sales

34. Danger #2. Undermining value
Example
Control
Treatment
16%
In Conversions
Protocol ID: TP1362

35. Danger #2. Undermining value
Example
Protocol ID: TP1740
Not this
But this
24%
Purchase Rate
!
What You Need to Understand: By adding two fields (start date and number
of copies per day) we also added clarity and value to the form. The control
form was undermining the value by 24%.

36. Radio buttons vs. dropdowns?
Radio Buttons
Dropdown
?
Which capture technique should you use?

37. Summary: Putting it all together
F
Key Principles
1. One of the most effective ways to improve the performance of the webpage is to
reduce friction (psychological resistance).
2. However, in our attempts to minimize friction (length-oriented), we must beware
of undermining the conversation with the customer in 2 ways:
i.
ii.
3.
Intensifying difficulty-oriented friction
Eliminating necessary value force
In the end, increasing conversion is less about the technique (dropdowns vs. radio
buttons), and more about understanding the entire mental impact (value vs. cost).

39. Live Optimization

40. Live optimization
Cornerstones4Care
Primary Audience: People with diabetes
Primary Objective: Resources
http://bit.ly/1hgb98I
#WebClinic

41. Live optimization
SunPro Solar
Primary Audience: Home owners
Primary Objective: Lead generation
http://bit.ly/1llD1Mb
#WebClinic

42. Live optimization
Netelligent.ca
Primary Audience: B2B availability services
Primary Objective: Lead generation page
http://bit.ly/1jAhoED
#WebClinic

43. Live optimization
HRSA
Primary Audience: Public interested in census health data
Primary Objective: Informational site
http://1.usa.gov/1pteftT
#WebClinic

44. Live optimization
Zycus
Primary Audience: Professional organizations
Primary Objective: Lead generation form fill
http://bit.ly/1fTPzmi
#WebClinic

45. Live optimization
Strayer University
Primary Audience: Prospective students
Primary Objective: Recruitment
http://bit.ly/1fTQ9k5
#WebClinic

46. Next Clinic: Background
Experiment ID: TP1785
Record Location: MarketingExperiments Research Library
Research Partner: (Protected)
Background: A large global media company seeking to sell premium software to
businesses.
Goal: To move visitors to the next step in the funnel.
Research Question: Which call-to-action will result in a significant increase in clicks
and leads captured?
Test Design: Single factorial A/B split

47. Next Clinic: Side-by-side
Treatment A
Treatment B
Treatment D
Treatment C
Treatment E
Which treatment won?

48. To see the results
Live March 12 at 4:00 p.m. EST
Join the live 35-minute Web clinic
•
•
•
•
What is the best color for my CTAs?
What is the best position?
How many CTAs are optimal on a page?
What is the best CTA copy?
To join live, register at the link below:
MarketingExperiments.com/EffectiveCTAs

49. See how you can conduct research with us
MECLABS conducts rigorous experiments in the new science of optimization. We apply our
discoveries to help leaders optimize the financial performance of their sales and
marketing programs.
Learn more about how you may
be a fit for a MECLABS Research
Partnership:
• Select Research Partnership
Opportunities on the postwebinar survey
• Contact us directly
info@MECLABS.com
1-877-635-0565
x