Failure Friday #6: 90% of Everything I Do is Either Broken or Pointless
Summary
What if every product decision you made was put to the test—literally? For nine years at Booking.com, Erin’s every design, feature, and code change faced rigorous A/B testing. If it didn’t move the needle, it was scrapped—no exceptions. The hard truth? About 90% of her work (and everyone else’s) had zero positive impact on business goals. Sometimes, it even made things worse. In this session, Erin shares lessons from a culture where failure is data, and being wrong is part of the process. Join us to learn how to fail forward, embrace experimentation, and find the joy in discovering what really works.
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