Introducing GABLE: Lightweight infrastructure for longitudinal experiments using Google Apps Script

Abstract Longitudinal studies are essential for understanding how behaviors, skills, and psychological states evolve over time. While online platforms have made study development easier, researchers still face major logistical challenges when managing multi-session studies, especially when coordinating large numbers of participants, session timing, reminders, and compensation. In this paper, we introduce GABLE ( G oogle A pps script- B ased L ongitudinal E xperimentation), a lightweight infrastructure built using Google Apps Script. GABLE automates participant scheduling, e-mail communication, session tracking, and compensation. We demonstrate its effectiveness through two real-world psychological studies involving more than 850 participants with 20 sessions, and discuss its benefits, limitations, and potential extensions. GABLE addresses many challenges of running large online longitudinal studies while limiting the need for custom infrastructure or manual intervention.