Why the JetPunk Take Counts May Be Inaccurate
First published: Monday May 31st, 2021
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What Is a Take on JetPunk?
The take count for a quiz is a definitive measurement of how popular the quiz is. But what exactly is a take?
On JetPunk, a quiz is considered to have been "taken" when a visitor finishes the quiz, and after that the take counter goes up by one. The take counter is not modified in any way at the moment a user hits the "Start Quiz" button. And this is exactly why the problem exists.
Why Could These Be Inaccurate?
Unlike YouTube video view counters, which use a complex algorithm to calculate the counts, JetPunk take counters are much easier to program and much more accurate. However, they still have flaws.
The take counter does not count an incomplete take, that is, a take that has a start but no end. For example, imagine that a user navigates to one of your quizzes and hits the "Start Quiz" button. After the user gets a few answers correct he thinks that he will most likely fail, so he simply closes the tab containing the quiz. In this way, the take counter is not affected, despite the fact that a user actually started your quiz.
What about We Count the Page Views?
At first glance, counting page views instead of takes could be a solution to the problem - but it is obvious that this method is not a good alternative, as a quiz's page view count could be drastically increased by a user who rapidly refreshes the quiz page. In addition, even a user with no intention to make the page views skyrocket can also invalidate the count - by entering the page and exiting it without starting the quiz.
What Could Be an Ideal Solution?
What could be an ideal solution, provided that neither the current version of the take counter nor the page view counter is perfect? Here is one possible solution, for reference only:
1. Use a take counter to count the takes
2. Increase the counter by one once a user satisfies both of the following conditions:
- has entered something into the box, be it a correct answer or a wrong one
- has spent at least 15 seconds on the quiz (not the page)
2. Sounds good
But this is an interesting blog!
So although your idea may be more accurate at portraying how many users actually played a quiz, it wouldn't work with the current system unfortunately.