AB Controls Tool

The AB Controls tool matches one to ten control units (e.g., stores, customers, etc.) to each member of a set of previously selected test units, based on criteria such as seasonal patterns and growth trends for a key performance indicator (e.g., sales, traffic), along with other user provided criteria (e.g., trade area or demographic characteristics). Possible control units are matched to a user provided set of treatment units using nearest neighbor methods based on a kd-tree algorithm.

This tool uses the R tool. Go to Options > Download Predictive Tools and sign in to the Alteryx Downloads and Licenses portal to install R and the packages used by the R Tool. See Download and Use Predictive Tools.

Connect inputs

  • D anchor: Data. A data stream containing the unit level measures to match control units to treatment units.
  • T anchor: Treatments. A data stream containing a field that provides the unit identifiers (e.g., stores, customers) for a test's treatment units.

Configure the tool

Use the Base Configuration tab to set the controls for the AB test.

  • The identifier field for the treatment units: The field with the treatment unit identifier for the Treatments input. This field must be some sort of character based type such as String or V-String.
  • The unit identifier field for the selection measures: The field with the unit identifier for the Data input of measures on which to base the match of controls to treatments.
  • Select the numeric measure to match control units to treatment units: The fields in the Data input upon which to base the match of treatments to controls.
  • Number of control units per treatment unit: The number of control units to match to each treatment unit, which can range from 1 to 20.
  • Allow each control unit to be assigned to only a single treatment unit: A checkbox option to make each control assigned to only a single treatment unit, by default this is true.

Use the Graphics Options tab to set the controls for the graphical output.

  • Plot size: Select inches or centimeters for the size of the graph.
  • Graph resolution: Select the resolution of the graph in dots per inch: 1x (96 dpi); 2x (192 dpi); or 3x (288 dpi). Lower resolution creates a smaller file and is best for viewing on a monitor. Higher resolution creates a larger file with better print quality.

  • Base font size (points): Select the size of the font in the graph.

View the output

  • C: Controls. A Designer data stream with the field Controls, the unit identifier code for each control unit.

  • A: Assignment. A Designer data stream with the field Treatment that gives the unit identifier code for each treatment unit, and the fields Control 1 to Control N (where N is the user provided number of controls per treatment unit that given the unit identifier code for each control unit assigned to a particular treatment unit, and is provided for diagnostic purposes.