Double Blind Party

HOW IT WORKS - AN OVERVIEW

The party host starts just as they would for a simple blind taste test: put the products into neutral containers in a random order. Our website will take care of the randomization and tell you which product to put in which container. We call this process "shuffle one", and we use numbers to label the containers.

The next step, "shuffle two", is the trick that makes this all work. An assistant - anyone except the person who performed shuffle one - basically performs the same process again: move the products from their numbered containers into another set of neutral containers in a random order. This second set of containers should be labeled by letter. Again, the website will handle the randomization, and will let the assistant know (by email or text message) which numbered product to transfer to which lettered container.

At this point, you're ready to start sampling! Assistants never know which products are in the numbered containers, so they don't know what's in the lettered containers either. And party hosts don't know where each product ended up after the assistants perform shuffle two. And of course, no one else has any clue which product is which! So, it's a blind taste test for the whole party.

THE WHOLE PROCESS, STEP BY STEP

We've broken the process of conducting a Double Blind Party down into four stages:

These stages must be completed in order, and once you have completed a given stage, you cannot return to it. Although the steps are clear, it's worth proceding through them deliberately and carefully, especially the first time you host a Double Blind Party. And remember, there's help available for each stage of the process.

STAGE 1 - PLANNING

General Information

The planning stage can begin as far in advance of your party as you like, be it the day of your party or months in advance.

Your taste test should be between items that are quite similar, similar enough that a taster could conceivably get confused about which is which. It makes sense to do a blind taste test comparing different brands of or recipes for pumpkin pie, but there's no point in doing a blind taste test of a pumpkin pie versus a cherry pie.

Using the Planning Page

When you create a new study, you'll first need to specify the category of item you'll be sampling. When selecting the category, think in general terms: how might a grocery store label the aisle that contains your items? For example, if you're planning on sampling Ginger Snaps, choose the category Cookies.

Give your party a name that is distinctive enough that you'll know which party this was when you look back on it in a few years. This name is mostly for the benefit of you and your attendees, you can be as creative (or not) as you like.

The Date and the number of people need not be exactly accurate, but it's good to have a sense to help with planning.

The list of items you will be sampling does need to be exactly accurate. Do not click the "Get the Party Started!" button until you're sure that the list of products is what you will be serving.

When entering product names, be specific enough that someone could buy the same product again based solely on what you enter. For instance, don't enter "Newman's Own", enter "Newman's Own Lite Sesame Vinagarette".

Again, be certain that you've specified all of the products you intend to sample before you move on to stage two by clicking the "Get the Party Started!" button. Once you say you're done, there's no ability to add more products or change your mind later. We recommend progressing to stage two on the day of the party, only after you have your products in hand and you're ready to start setting up.

STAGE 2 - SET UP

Stage two is about getting your samples into neutral containers in a randomized, Double Blind way. As described in the How It Works - Overview, this involves the party host moving the products into numbered containers (shuffle one), and the host's assistant moving them from the numbered containers into lettered containers (shuffle two). The host can either view a web page or receive an email with the instructions for shuffle one. The assistant can receive either an email or a text message with the instructions for shuffle two.

The instructions are really simple: several lines of "put THIS into THAT". If the assistant's instructions say "3 -> B", that means "put the contents of container 3 into container B".

As with the stage 1, you cannot return to stage 2 once you say that you're done with it. Make sure that you and your assistant both have your instructions for your respective shuffles before you move to stage 3 by clicking the "Done Shuffling, Let's Party!" button. To be safe, you might want to wait until shuffle 2 is complete before proceeding.

STAGE 3 - PARTY

From here on out, it's really easy. Start tasting! Some people might like to sit and sample them one after another, but others might prefer to taste slowly while mingling. It works any way! The only important thing is that everyone's results must be entered into the website before you say that you're done partying.

It's very important that you don't run out of samples while people are still taste-testing. You should decide on the recommended sample size based on your number of expected guests, and impress upon your guests that they should not take more than the recommended sample size.

Results can easily be entered using a computer, smartphone, tablet, etc. Multiple people can use the same device. If you (or any of your guests) prefer, you can print out paper rating cards.

All ratings (including the results of the paper rating cards) must be saved to the web site before you move on to stage 4. Put another way, no ratings can be saved after you say that you're done sampling. So, be sure you're actually done when you say that you're done by clicking the "Done Partying, Let's See Results!" button.

STAGE 4 - PARTY

Once the party enters Stage 4, the veil is lifted: we now see which product was which. We also see how each person rated each product, and the average rating given to each product.

At this point, the party statistics are also publicly accessible. A URL at the bottom of the page is provided if you care to share your results.