September 14th, 2023

Focus on trials layouts

This newsletter highlights some of the recent changes that we’ve made to improve the randomization and generation of trial layouts. While QuickTrials has always had a lot of flexibility in placing plots, we received feedback from our customers requesting further enhancements. The features covered here represent the most requested enhancements and we plan to provide even more in the future.

Ordering for Test Subjects

Previously, defining a specific order for test subjects in a trial required manual adjustments either through the Web UI grid layout or by importing a plot layout. If this wasn’t done, test subjects defaulted to an arrangement based on their names.

Good News!

We’ve introduced an enhanced way to set a defined order for your test subjects. Now, you can simply use drag-and-drop functionality to place them in the desired sequence right from the start. This order stays consistent, regardless of their alphabetical standing.

For many of our users, this feature will expedite the trial creation process, particularly for trials with a predetermined replicated order.

Introducing Multi Factor Plus Checks

When running multi-factor trials, it’s standard to combine each selected element from dimension A with all elements from dimension B. Often, there’s a need to include specific checks that don’t fit within this factorial design.

Our latest feature upgrade addresses this. You can now easily exclude certain combinations from a full factorial trial, retaining only those that are either all checks or all non-checks. With this, you can integrate a check into both dimensions, ensuring the trial design aligns with your requirements.

By selecting “Remove control:non-control combinations” you will see that in plots screen Crop variety LG 3368 will produce only one plot with Fertilizer None. On the screenshot below you can see how it will look for a trial with 3 repetitions.

Enhanced GPS Navigation for Field Staff

Understanding where to observe traits is crucial for field staff. While our mobile app has always enabled users to find a site by tapping the navigation icon of the site, we’ve expanded this feature. Now, you can also navigate directly to locations recorded under a location or shape trait. This enhancement streamlines the process of finding individual fields, plots, or specific locations within a plot using GPS navigation.

Terms of Use updated

We’ve updated our standard Terms of Use for QuickTrials. To view the latest version please visit: https://www.quicktrials.com/terms/.

Continuing to evolve

We are continually enhancing QuickTrials and will be releasing a set of performance improvements soon as well as some exciting new features in the coming months.

We’re always happy to receive feedback on how we can make QuickTrials even better or easier to work with. You can reach us at support@quicktrials.com with any questions or feedback you have.

Thank you,

Your QuickTrials Team