When running concept tests or usability interviews, you may want to present different sections of your guide in a randomized way. Outset offers two types of section randomization—monadic and sequential monadic.
⚠️ Note: Section randomization is only available when your interview guide contains multiple sections.
Monadic Randomization
With monadic randomization, each participant sees a subset of your selected sections, chosen at random.
You choose how many sections each participant should see (e.g., 4 of 8: set up 8 sections in the interview guide for 8 concepts, and randomize so that each participant sees 4 concepts).
AI randomly selects the section(s) participants will see.
The order of the selected sections is not randomized—just which ones they see.
Use case: Great for concept testing when you want each participant to evaluate only a few concepts to avoid fatigue or bias.
For example -
Section 1 - Intro
Section 2 - Concept A
Section 3 - Concept B
Section 4 - Conclusion
You want all participants to see the intro and conclusion, but only one of the two concepts. In this case, you’d use monadic randomization on Sections 2 and 3, so that 50% of participants see Concept A and the other 50% see Concept B.
Each participant will see a total of three sections: the intro, one concept, and the conclusion.
Sequential Monadic Randomization
With sequential monadic randomization, each participant sees all of the selected sections, but in a randomized order.
You choose the full set of sections to include (E.g., 2 of 4 sections)
Every participant sees all selected sections
Outset randomizes the order in which participants will see the included sections
Use case: Useful when you want comprehensive feedback across all concepts but still want to minimize order effects.
For example -
Section 1 - Intro
Section 2 - Concept A
Section 3 - Concept B
Section 4 - Conclusion
You want all participants to see the intro, both concepts, and the conclusion—but with the concepts shown in different orders. You can apply sequential monadic randomization to Sections 2 and 3 so that 50% of participants see Concept A first, and the other 50% see Concept B first.
All participants will still see all four sections; the only thing that changes is the order of the concepts.
Summary: What's the Difference?
Feature | Monadic | Sequential Monadic |
# Sections shown | Subset (e.g. 2 of 3) | All selected sections |
Randomization type | Which sections are shown | Order of sections |
Example use case | Split exposure | Reduce order bias |
Both options help you manage participant experience and minimize bias—choose the one that best fits your testing goals.