

Show HN: Bandit Algorithm for iOS, Android and Unity - splitforce
http://splitforce.com/resources/auto-optimization/

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orasis
For the DIY crowd, implementing this on your own is a straightforward (and
fun) exercise.

I used the Javascript Bayesian Bandit library found here:

[https://github.com/omphalos/bayesian-
bandit.js/blob/master/b...](https://github.com/omphalos/bayesian-
bandit.js/blob/master/bayesian-bandit.js)

I then used it to create a job that runs every 5 minutes on parse.com that
updates an 'order' field based on the 5 minute sample.

Then, from the client side, I simply do a query sorted by the 'order' field
and I get the top variant for that 5 minute interval. Works like a charm!

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ikura
Have seen a lot of these services, but this is definitely worth checking out.
I think Multi-armed bandits are the way to go with optimisation, and just won
Startup Asia's hackathon using this technique for a tinder-style app. A lot of
people talk about learning from their customers, but few know how to really do
it - understanding the math behind what's going on gives me much better
confidence when deploying this type of service... Great work sharing it in
this way.

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iosnoob
As a splitforce user this is pretty cool.. biggest issue is having to wait for
conclusive results, whatever speeds this up and auto prunes away the losing
options is welcome.

~~~
splitforce
Thanks, we think it's pretty cool too! And you've totally hit on why this is
awesome - by automatically funneling users towards better-performing
variations you can focus your resources on validating what matters and cut
down on the deadweight loss associated with a traditional A/B. For more on
this here's a recommended read:
[http://stevehanov.ca/blog/index.php?id=132?utm_medium=referr...](http://stevehanov.ca/blog/index.php?id=132?utm_medium=referral)

~~~
orasis
Do you guys do any sort of logistic regression for optimizing numeric values?
That would be really cool.

~~~
splitforce
Right now auto-optimization only supports binary goal types. But we support
A/B testing with Time and Quanity (numeric) goal types as well, so working on
a solution to automate those types of experiments.

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broodsugar
Getting Splitforce already at the test stages of development is one of the
smartest things a game studio can do.

~~~
splitforce
True, but why? Activision spends over $10M annually on employing an analytics
team of about a dozen PhDs to build Rubin causal models to be able to show the
right thing at the right time to players. That kind of budget makes sense for
a $1 billion title like Call of Duty, but where does that leave the other 99%?
The fact is that even for the companies that don't employ a full-time team of
statisticians, if you're running your app or game like a true business you
should be leveraging data to make better business decisions. Bandit algorithms
like those we're proposing just let you do that at a fraction of the cost ;-)

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0x0
That custom scroll handler which overrides the native ios mobilesafari scroll
handler is quite the annoying distraction. :-/

~~~
splitforce
Thanks for the heads up - looking into it...

