Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
Summary
Experimentation can be intimidating to non-data science folk. But Erin wants to get everyone excited about A/B testing. In this talk, Erin shares the Conversion Design process. It centers A/B testing as a way to gather high-quality evidence to make highly informed decisions to improve your digital product. She also introduces the Good Experimental Design toolkit. These easy-to-follow templates usher teams through the logic needed to design trustworthy experiments that you can learn from.
Key Insights
-
•
Conversion design combines design, science, and business to intentionally create measurable improvements, not just arbitrary changes.
-
•
Ronald Fisher’s 1919 work exposed how poor experimental design led to decades of unreliable scientific data.
-
•
Conversion originates from the Latin word meaning to transform or change, which is broader than just sales or profit.
-
•
Traditional linear product development processes miss the complex, iterative nature of real-world systems.
-
•
Systems thinking offers a more accurate way to understand and manage design experiments within interconnected environments.
-
•
A rigorous conversion design process includes seven phases: understand, hypothesize, prioritize, create, test, analyze, and decide.
-
•
Experiments grounded in well-documented hypotheses based on research have higher success rates than guesses.
-
•
Randomized 50/50 AB testing is the gold standard for isolating the true effect of design changes by evenly distributing confounds.
-
•
Experimentation buckets—product foundations, content/motivation, accessibility/usability, and bug fixes—help prioritize work effectively.
-
•
Ethical considerations and guardrail metrics are crucial to ensure changes benefit all stakeholders sustainably and without manipulation.
Notable Quotes
"Conversion means change, not just sales or profit."
"Design is the rendering of intent — bringing ideas into form that solve the problem."
"Decades worth of agricultural experimental data was garbage because of poor experimental design."
"Most product teams stay on the bottom rungs of evidence, relying on opinions or observational data instead of randomized trials."
"You can never purely test an idea, only the implementation of the idea."
"Randomization is magic — it evenly distributes confounds so the observed effect is caused by your change."
"Not all changes create value; some do nothing or even make things worse."
"You have to think critically about how a change impacts all stakeholders, not just the main business metric."
"Ethics evolve faster than laws; just because something is legal doesn’t make it ethical."
"If an experiment I design made the front page news tomorrow, how would I feel about it?"
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Design research should be involved in setting early policy vision, not just in delivering on it later."
Frances Yllana Ann Buechner Jess Jones Betsy RamacciaD.E.A.R.R. Diaries (Discipline, Experience, Architecture, Reflection + Revolution)
November 16, 2022
"Correlation does not equal causation. To say X causes Y, you’ve gotta do an experiment."
Katie HansenExperimental research: techniques for deep, psychology-driven insights
March 12, 2025
"Donuts are delicious, right? Nobody doesn’t like donuts."
Dave Hoffer Joanne WeaverUX Job Search AMA #2 with Joanne Weaver and Dave Hoffer
May 21, 2025
"I am the shock absorber for everything that’s happening so my boss can focus on bigger priorities."
Lisa GirondaOpener: Chief of Staff–An unexpected journey
January 8, 2024
"If you create a separate team to work on the future, make sure they stay focused on the future, or you’ll never get out of the trap."
Ted Booth Sam Ladner Fredrik Matheson Russ UngerDiscussion
June 8, 2016
"They had accidentally created a gaping void between the functionality they were producing and the needs of the people who depended on it."
Dan WillisFilling the Void
November 7, 2018
"We have to go from shipping a minimal viable product to creating a minimal lovable experience."
Maria GiudiceRemaking the Making Company: Moving from Product to Experience
June 9, 2016
"Let the community lead from the very first step: they will determine goals, participants, and logistics."
Victor UdoewaRadical Participatory Design: Decolonizing Participatory Design Processes
December 10, 2021
"You’re not one of them. And that is your strength, Renee. That is your power."
Renee ReidBecoming a ResearchH.E.R (Highly Enterprise Ready)
June 3, 2019
