69 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
69 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
stage: Growth
|
|
group: Acquisition
|
|
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
# Experiment Guide
|
|
|
|
Experiments can be conducted by any GitLab team, most often the teams from the
|
|
[Growth Sub-department](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/development/growth/).
|
|
Experiments are not tied to releases because they primarily target GitLab.com.
|
|
|
|
Experiments are run as an A/B/n test, and are behind an [experiment feature flag](../feature_flags/index.md#experiment-type)
|
|
to turn the test on or off. Based on the data the experiment generates, the team decides
|
|
if the experiment had a positive impact and should be made the new default, or rolled back.
|
|
|
|
Experiments in GitLab are tightly coupled with the concepts provided by
|
|
[Feature flags in development of GitLab](../feature_flags/index.md). You're strongly encouraged
|
|
to read and understand the [Feature flags in development of GitLab](../feature_flags/index.md)
|
|
portion of the documentation before considering running experiments. Experiments add additional
|
|
concepts which may seem confusing or advanced without understanding the underpinnings of how GitLab
|
|
uses feature flags in development. One concept: experiments can be run with multiple variants,
|
|
which are sometimes referred to as A/B/n tests.
|
|
|
|
We use the [`gitlab-experiment` gem](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/ruby/gems/gitlab-experiment),
|
|
sometimes referred to as GLEX, to run our experiments. The gem exists in a separate repository
|
|
so it can be shared across any GitLab property that uses Ruby. You should feel comfortable reading
|
|
the documentation on that project if you want to dig into more advanced topics or open issues. Be
|
|
aware that the documentation there reflects what's in the main branch and may not be the same as
|
|
the version being used in GitLab.
|
|
|
|
## Glossary of terms
|
|
|
|
To ensure a shared language, you should understand these fundamental terms we use
|
|
when communicating about experiments:
|
|
|
|
- `experiment`: Any deviation of code paths we want to run at some times, but not others.
|
|
- `context`: A consistent experience we provide in an experiment.
|
|
- `control`: The default, or "original" code path.
|
|
- `candidate`: Defines an experiment with only one code path.
|
|
- `variant(s)`: Defines an experiment with multiple code paths.
|
|
- `behaviors`: Used to reference all possible code paths of an experiment, including the control.
|
|
|
|
## Implementing an experiment
|
|
|
|
[GLEX](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/ruby/gems/gitlab-experiment) - or `Gitlab::Experiment`, the `gitlab-experiment` gem - is the preferred option for implementing an experiment in GitLab.
|
|
|
|
For more information, see [Implementing an A/B/n experiment using GLEX](implementing_experiments.md).
|
|
|
|
This uses [experiment](../feature_flags/index.md#experiment-type) feature flags.
|
|
|
|
### Add new icons and illustrations for experiments
|
|
|
|
Some experiments may require you to add custom icons or illustrations to our codebase.
|
|
This process is lengthy and at this stage, the outcome of the experiment uncertain.
|
|
Therefore, you should postpone this effort until the [experiment cleanup process](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/development/growth/experimentation/#experiment-cleanup-issue).
|
|
|
|
We recommend the following workflow:
|
|
|
|
1. Review the Pajamas guidelines for [icons](https://design.gitlab.com/product-foundations/iconography/) and [illustrations](https://design.gitlab.com/product-foundations/illustration/).
|
|
1. Add an icon or illustration as an `.svg` file in the `/app/assets/images` (or EE) path in the GitLab repository.
|
|
1. Use `image_tag` or `image_path` to render it via the asset pipeline.
|
|
1. **If the experiment is a success**, designers add the new icon or illustration to the Pajamas UI kit as part of the cleanup process.
|
|
Engineers can then add it to the [SVG library](https://gitlab-org.gitlab.io/gitlab-svgs/) and modify the implementation based on the
|
|
[Frontend Development Guidelines](../fe_guide/icons.md#usage-in-hamlrails-2).
|
|
|
|
## Related topics
|
|
|
|
- [Experiments API](../../api/experiments.md)
|