The Gold Standard

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have a rich history, dating back to the 1920s when researchers used them to compare crop yields under different conditions. In medicine, RCTs gained prominence in the mid-20th century, thanks to pioneers like Austin Bradford Hill, who demonstrated their power in evaluating the effectiveness of treatments like streptomycin for tuberculosis. Today, RCTs are considered the gold standard for establishing causality in many fields, from healthcare to social policy.

In the tech sector, a simplified version of the RCT – the A/B test – has become ubiquitous. Companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook routinely run A/B tests to evaluate new features, website designs, and marketing campaigns. The allure of A/B testing lies in its simplicity: randomly assign users to different groups, expose them to different versions of a product or experience, and measure the outcomes. This allows for a clean comparison, isolating the effect of the change from other factors that might influence user behavior.