I Do Stand-Up Comedy and A/B Testing (Turns Out They're the Same Thing)

Get David's prioritization framework in this month's newsletter: ⁠⁠https://increaseconversionrate.substa... David Swinstead spent 10 years inside the Booking.com bubble, and came out with some of the sharpest, most contrarian takes in the experimentation space. in this episode… he is now running experimentation programs at e-clerks, and doing stand-up comedy on the side, he treats both the same way: test everything, surrender to the data, and never assume you know the answer. it's about: → the "no-brainer" test on his first day at Booking.com that completely tanked → why PIE, ICE, RICE and every off-the-shelf framework is setting your team up to fail → the 5-criteria prioritization framework he's been refining for 15+ years → 1 pixel. 1 underline. and why everything on your site can make a difference → CRO is easy, people are hard. how to actually build a culture that lasts Timestamps: 00:00 - Episode Trailer 02:09 - Introduction of David Swinstead 02:37 - Stand-up Comedy and A/B Testing Parallels 04:47 - The Illusion of Control in Experimentation 05:53 - David’s Journey in Experimentation 07:52 - How David Fell in Love with Experimentation 10:53 - First Experiment at Booking.com and It's Learnings 13:30 - Dark Patterns, Ethics, and Product Decisions 15:00 - Biggest Mistakes Early in His Career 16:04 - The Famous Booking.com Holdout Test 20:24 - Building a Data-Driven Culture 24:36 - How to Create an Experimentation Culture 26:47 - Why Most Prioritization Frameworks Fail 35:56 - David’s Full Framework 36:46 - Statistical rigor vs. Real-World Constraints 39:04 - What Happens Without Prioritization 41:08 - Where to Follow David Swinstead & Final Thoughts Find David on Linkedin: ⁠  / david-swinstead-09267030