Create experiment

Build experiment from scratch

To create a new experiment, use the button in the top right corner to navigate to the “New experiment” page.

Tip: You can edit your experiment after creating it!

After setting up the experiment config and adding a specific game and/or individual experiment stages, use the button in the top right corner to save your experiment. This will make it available from the home page gallery.

Experiment metadata

Name: Private experiment name is required and only shown to researchers who have allowlist access to the platform and specific access to the experiment. Public experiment name is shown to participants (if left empty, participant will just see “Experiment” as the title).

Permissions: If private, only the creator will be able to edit and view the experiment. If public, the creator alone will be able to edit the experiment metadata and stage configurations, but all researchers with allowlist access to the platform will be able to view the experiment and manage cohorts and participants (if you provide them with the experiment link).

Stage properties

Below are the settings you can configure for each stage:

Stage description: The text will appear as a description at the top of the stage
Info popup text: Adds an ⓘ icon to the stage that will display this text when clicked
Help popup text: Adds a help icon to the stage that will display this text when clicked
Wait for all active participants: When enabled, the stage will not begin until all participants in the cohort have reached this stage
Wait for a fixed number of participants: When enabled, the stage will not begin until the specified number of participants (in the cohort) have reached this stage
Show participant progress: Displays a progress banner (e.g., “X of X participants have completed this stage”) where X is all participants in the cohort

Stage types

Supported experiment stages include:

Terms of Service: Displays the Terms of Service. Participants must accept the terms to proceed
Profile: Participants can set their name, pronouns, and avatar. If “anonymous animal-themed profiles” is enabled, participants will be randomly assigned a profile (e.g., Dog, Cat)
Info: Use this stage to provide information to participants
Survey: Add survey questions like free-text, checkboxes (yes/no), multiple choice, or scale questions
Ranking/Election: Allows participants to rank items (or other participants). If “Conduct an election” is selected, a winner will be computed from the rankings
Reveal: Combine Survey or Ranking/Election stages here. You can choose to reveal answers to the cohort. Make sure to inform participants if their answers will be visible to others
Payout: Calculates and displays the participant’s payout for selected stages (can be a fixed amount for a stage or a calculation specific to that stage, e.g., number of correct survey answers)
Group Chat: Opens a chat for the cohort (use the Agents tab to add mediators)
Transfer: A waiting stage where participants can be manually transferred by the experimenter to a different cohort. We recommend creating a “Lobby” cohort for an experiment, and then transferring participants into breakout cohorts as needed

Edit or fork experiment

To edit an experiment, click on its card in the home page gallery.

At the bottom of the leftmost panel, fork or edit the current experiment.

For creators: general experiment configurations (e.g., metadata, permissions, delete experiment) can be edited at any time, but stages can only be adjusted if no cohorts currently exist in the experiment.

Non-creators cannot edit the experiment metadata/stages, but they can click to preview (same button in top right corner) the configurations.

Preview experiment

Coming soon: Simplified workflow for previewing an experiment

To preview or test your experiment, create a new cohort and add a participant, then use the “participant preview” panel (or copy that participant’s experiment link) to see the participant’s view. Once you’re done, delete the cohort to enable editing experiment stages.