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Evaluate impact of Multi-Check Phase 1 (side rail + single Check) deployment on constructive activation
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Description

T378777 changed the desktop Reference Check experience by presenting the check in a side rail located adjacent to the editable content, rather than presenting the Check within the editable content.

T380539 analyzed how this change impacted the Edit Check guardrail metrics we’ve established by reviewing data two weeks before and after the change.

This task builds on T380539 by looking specifically about how/if the change T378777 introduced impacted constructive activation. [1]

Decision(s) to be made

The information this task generates will be used to help the WE 1.2 KR develop a better understanding of how we are tracking against the 10% improvement target we set (T371726) and ultimately, decide what – if any – adjustments we make to the strategy that's informing the approach we're taking to cause this change.

Research question(s)

  • 1. What – if any – impact did the change T378777 introduce have on constructive activation in the two weeks before and after the change was deployed?

Note: we think we can use the query we ran in T360829 to establish the baseline for constructive activation in this context as well.


i. , Constructive activation defined as: "The percentage of newcomers making at least one edit to an article in the main namespace of a Wikipedia project on a mobile device within 24 hours of registration (also on a mobile device) and that edit not being reverted within 48 hours of being published."

Event Timeline

ppelberg added a project: Product-Analytics.
ppelberg updated the task description. (Show Details)
ppelberg moved this task from Backlog to Analytics on the Editing-team (Tracking) board.
MNeisler triaged this task as Medium priority.Feb 7 2025, 6:32 PM
MNeisler edited projects, added Product-Analytics (Kanban); removed Product-Analytics.

I reviewed changes in constructive activations rates following the deployment of Multi-Check Phase 1. See a summary of results below and more details in the updated analysis report.

Edits completed by newcomers 24 hours after registering
I first took a quick look at the types of edits newcomers complete 24 hours after registering to understand how many of these users are encountering Reference Check.

  • About 66% of all edits completed by newcomers 24 hours after registering are completed on VisualEditor. (Note: This excludes English and German Wikipedia which did not have Reference Check available as default at the time of the deployment).
  • During this reviewed timeframe, reference check was shown to 14% of all published VisualEditor edits and 6.7% of all newcomers that created an account.
  • As expected, there were no significant changes in the volume or frequency of reference checks shown following the Multi-Check Phase 1 deployment.

Overall Constructive Activation Rates
There were no significant changes in overall constructive activation rate following the Multi-Check Phase 1 deployment.

Constructive Activation Rates Overall

Pre or post changeNumber of newcomersConstructive Activation Rates
pre620228.7%
post495928.9%

This represents a 0.7% increase and is not statistically significant.

... or if we isolate to just edits completed on Visual Editor where reference check is available

Contructive Activation Rates for Newcomers that used VisualEditor

Pre or post changeNumber of newcomersConstructive Activation Rates
pre464821.5%
post370621.6%

This represents a 0.5% increase and is not statistically significant.

Per Wiki Constructive Activation Rates
Results vary on a per wiki basis. All changes across larger wikis were within +/- 2 percentage points. Please see report for the full table.

Constructive edits completed by newcomers shown reference check at least once*
Reference check is not presented to newcomers until they attempt to save an edit, requiring them to successfully transition through several stages after creating an account before reaching this stage. To help isolate the impact of this intervention on newcomers, I also reviewed changes in overall constructive edit rates. This limits the analysis to newcomers that published an edit.

Pre or post changeTotal number of edits publishedTotal number of edits revertedConstructive Edit Rate
pre515192482.1%
post443166285.1%

There was a +3.7% increase in total constructive edits following the Multi-Check Phase 1 deployment for newcomers who were presented with at least one reference check.

Note: The work that will be completed in T385906 will help visualize the full constructive activation funnel and help better isolate the impact of edit check on constructive activation rates.

Methodology
I gathered desktop registrations from two weeks pre and post-deployment of the change deployed on December 12th. For those registrations, I gathered data on edits to a main Wikipedia namespace completed on a desktop[1] device within 24 hours of registration and the reverts of those edits. English and German Wikipedia were excluded as reference check was not available as default on those wikis at the time of this analysis.

[1] The WE 1.2 baselines identified in T360829 were based on mobile device constructive activation rates. This analysis reviews activation rates on desktop devices as that's where the change to reference check was applied so these rates are not directly comparable.

cc @ppelberg

I reviewed changes in constructive activations rates following the deployment of Multi-Check Phase 1. See a summary of results below and more details in the updated analysis report.

This looks wonderful, @MNeisler.

I've published these findings on https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Edit_check#5_March_2025.