A/B Tests, Page Speed and Flicker

A common worry with A/B testing tools is flicker: the visitor sees the original page for a moment, then it jumps to the new version. Here’s how Dialogue avoids it.

No flicker

• Only the parts being tested are hidden, for a split second. The rest of the page loads as normal. Hidden parts keep their space, so nothing moves around.
• Your page doesn’t wait for Dialogue. Our script loads in the background and never slows your page down.
• There’s a 0.8 second limit. If a change isn’t ready by then, the visitor simply sees the original for that page view. Changes never swap in after the visitor has already seen the page.
• It’s fair to both versions. The original and the variant wait the same way, so timing doesn’t affect which one wins.

This applies to tests built with the visual editor. It’s set up automatically when you turn on the Dialogue app embed in your Shopify theme.

Moving between pages

• Regular Shopify themes: every page works out of the box. Tests also apply to content that appears after the page loads, like product grids, quick views and cart drawers.
• Headless or single-page-app stores (for example Hydrogen or a custom Next.js storefront): tests aren’t re-checked yet when the visitor moves to another page without a full page load. Contact us before running tests on this kind of store.

Checking that a test is showing

If a change sometimes doesn’t appear, the tested element may be loading slowly or may not exist on every page. Dialogue keeps track of how often a change couldn’t be applied. If you think a test isn’t showing as it should, pick a more stable element in the editor, or contact us and we’ll check it for you.