Article

15min read

16 Experimentation Influencers You Should Follow

Building a culture of experimentation requires an appetite for iteration, a fearless approach to failure and a test-and-learn mindset. The 1000 Experiments Club podcast digs into all of that and more with some of the most influential voices in the industry. 

From CEOs and Founders to CRO Managers and more, these experts share the lessons they’ve learned throughout their careers in experimentation at top tech companies and insights on where the optimization industry is heading. 

Whether you’re an A/B testing novice or a seasoned pro, here are some of our favorite influencers in CRO and experimentation that you should follow:

Ronny Kohavi

Ronny Kohavi, a pioneer in the field of experimentation, brings over three decades of experience in machine learning, controlled experiments, AI, and personalization.

He previously served as Vice President and Technical Fellow at Airbnb. Prior to that, he led analysis and experimentation for Microsoft’s Cloud and AI group and was Director of Personalization and Data Mining at Amazon.

Ronny’s work has helped lay the foundation for modern online experimentation, influencing how some of the world’s biggest companies approach testing and decision-making.

He advocates for a gradual rollout approach over the typical 50/50 split at launch:

“One thing that turns out to be really useful is to start with a small ramp-up. Even if you plan to go to 50% control and 50% treatment, start at 2%. If something egregious happens—like a metric dropping by 10% instead of the 0.5% you’re monitoring for—you can detect it in near real time.”

This slow ramp-up helps teams catch critical issues early and protect user experience.

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Lukas Vermeer

Lukas Vermeer, Director of Experimentation at Vista, is an expert in designing, implementing, and scaling experimentation programs. He previously spent over eight years at Booking.com, where he held roles as a product manager, data scientist, and ultimately Director of Experimentation.

With a background in machine learning and AI, Lukas specializes in building the infrastructure and processes needed to scale testing and drive business growth. He also consults with companies to help them launch and accelerate their experimentation efforts.

Given today’s fast-changing environment, Lukas believes that roadmaps should be treated as flexible guides rather than rigid plans:
“I think roadmaps aren’t necessarily bad, but they should acknowledge the fact that there is uncertainty. The deliverable should be clarifications of that uncertainty, rather than saying, ‘In two months, we’ll deliver feature XYZ.’”

Instead of promising final outcomes, Lukas emphasizes embracing uncertainty to make better, data-informed decisions.

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Jonny Longden

Jonny Longden is the Chief Growth Officer at Speero, with over 17 years of experience improving websites through data and experimentation. He previously held senior roles at Boohoo Group, Journey Further, Sky, and Visa, where he led teams across experimentation, analytics, and digital product.

Jonny believes that smaller companies and startups—especially in their early, exploratory stages—stand to benefit the most from experimentation. Without testing, he argues, most ideas are unlikely to succeed.

“Without experimentation, your ideas are probably not going to work,” Jonny says. “The things that seem obvious often don’t deliver results, and the ideas that seem unlikely or even a bit silly can sometimes have the biggest impact.”

For Jonny, experimentation isn’t just a tactic—it’s the only reliable way to uncover what truly works and drive meaningful, data-backed progress.

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Ruben de Boer

Ruben de Boer is a Lead CRO Manager at Online Dialogue and founder of Conversion Ideas, with over 14 years of experience in data and optimization.

At Online Dialogue, he leads the team of Conversion Managers—developing skills, maintaining quality, and setting strategy and goals. Through his company, Conversion Ideas, Ruben helps people launch their careers in CRO and experimentation by offering accessible, high-quality courses and resources.

Ruben believes experimentation shouldn’t be judged solely by outcomes. “Roughly 25% of A/B tests result in a winner, meaning 75% of what’s built doesn’t get released—and that can feel like failure if you’re only focused on output,” he explains.

Instead, he urges teams to shift their focus to customer-centric insights. When the goal becomes understanding the user—not just releasing features—the entire purpose of experimentation evolves.

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David Mannheim

David Mannheim is a digital experience strategist with over 15 years of expertise helping brands like ASOS, Sports Direct, and Boots elevate their conversion strategies.

He is the CEO and founder of Made With Intent, focused on advancing innovative approaches to personalization through AI. Previously, he founded User Conversion, which became one of the UK’s largest independent CRO consultancies.

David recently authored a book exploring what he calls the missing element in modern personalization: the person. “Remember the first three syllables of personalization,” he says. “That often gets lost in data.”

He advocates for shifting focus from short-term gains to long-term customer value—emphasizing metrics like satisfaction, loyalty, and lifetime value over volume-based wins.

“More quality than quantity,” David explains, “and more recognition of the intangibles—not just the tangibles—puts brands in a much better place.”

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Elissa Quinby

Elissa Quinby is the Head of Product Marketing at e-commerce acceleration platform Pattern, with a career rooted in retail, marketing, and customer experience.

Before joining Pattern, she led retail marketing as Senior Director at Quantum Metric. She began her career as an Assistant Buyer at American Eagle Outfitters, then spent two years at Google as a Digital Marketing Strategist. Elissa went on to spend eight years at Amazon, holding roles across marketing, program management, and product.

Elissa emphasizes the importance of starting small to build trust with new customers. “The goal is to offer value in exchange for data,” she explains, pointing to first-party data as the “secret sauce” behind many successful companies.

She encourages brands to experiment with creative ways of gathering customer information—always with trust at the center—so they can personalize experiences and deepen customer understanding over time.

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Marianne Stjernvall

Marianne Stjernvall has over a decade of experience in CRO and experimentation, having executed more than 500 A/B tests and helped over 30 organizations grow their testing programs.

Marianne is the founder of Queen of CRO and co-founder of ConversionHub, Sweden’s most senior CRO agency. As an established CRO consultant, she helps organizations build experimentation-led cultures grounded in data and continuous learning.

Marianne also teaches regularly, sharing her expertise on the full spectrum of CRO, A/B testing, and experimentation execution.

She stresses the importance of a centralized testing approach:

“If each department runs experiments in isolation, you risk making decisions based on three different data sets, since teams will be analyzing different types of data. Having clear ownership and a unified framework ensures the organization works cohesively with tests.”

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Ben Labay

Ben Labay is the CEO of Speero, blending academic rigor in statistics with deep expertise in customer experience and UX.

Holding degrees in Evolutionary Behavior and Conservation Research Science, Ben began his career as a staff researcher at the University of Texas, specializing in data modeling and research.

This foundation informs his work at Speero, where he helps organizations leverage customer data to make better decisions.

Ben emphasizes that insights should lead to action and reveal meaningful patterns. “Every agency and in-house team collects data and tests based on insights, but you can’t stop there.”

Passionate about advancing experimentation, Ben focuses on developing new models, applying game theory, and embracing bold innovation to uncover bigger, disruptive insights.

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André Morys

André Morys, CEO and founder of konversionsKRAFT, has nearly three decades of experience in experimentation, digital growth, and e-commerce optimization.

Fueled by a deep fascination with user and customer experience, André guides clients through the experimentation process using a blend of data, behavioral economics, consumer psychology, and qualitative research.

He believes the most valuable insights lie beneath the surface. “Most people underestimate the value of experimentation because of the factors that are hard to measure,” André explains.

“You cannot measure the influence of experimentation on your company’s culture, yet that impact may be ten times more important than the immediate uplift you create.”

This philosophy is central to his “digital experimentation framework,” which features his signature “Iceberg Model” to capture both measurable and intangible effects of testing.

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Jeremy Epperson

Jeremy Epperson is the founder of Thetamark and has dedicated 14 years to conversion rate optimization and startup growth. He has worked with some of the fastest-growing unicorn startups in the world, researching, building, and implementing CRO programs for more than 150 growth-stage companies.

By gathering insights from diverse businesses, Jeremy has developed a data-driven approach to identify testing roadblocks, allowing him to optimize CRO processes and avoid the steep learning curves often associated with new launches.

In his interview, Jeremy emphasizes focusing on customer experience to drive growth. He explains, “We will do better as a business when we give the customer a better experience, make their life easier, simplify conversion, and eliminate the roadblocks that frustrate them and cause abandonment.”

His ultimate goal with experimentation is to create a seamless process from start to finish.

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Chad Sanderson

Chad Sanderson is the CEO and founder of Gable, a B2B data infrastructure SaaS company, and a renowned expert in digital experimentation and large-scale analysis.

He is also a product manager, public speaker, and writer who has lectured on topics such as the statistics of digital experimentation, advanced analysis techniques, and small-scale testing for small businesses.

Chad previously served as Senior Program Manager for Microsoft’s AI platform and was the Personalization Manager for Subway’s experimentation team.

He advises distinguishing between front-end (client-side) and back-end metrics before running experiments. Client-side metrics, such as revenue per transaction, are easier to track but may narrow focus to revenue growth alone.

“One set of metrics businesses mess up is relying only on client-side metrics like revenue per purchase,” Chad explains. “While revenue is important, focusing solely on it can drive decisions that overlook the overall impact of a feature.”

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Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia

Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia has spent the past 12 years building global companies and digital products.

With a background in Global Business Management and Marketing, Computer Science, and Industrial Engineering, Carlos founded Floqq—Latin America’s largest online education marketplace.

In 2014, he founded Product School, now the global leader in Product Management training.

Carlos believes experimentation has become more accessible and essential for product managers. “You no longer need a background in data science or engineering to be effective,” he says.

He views product managers as central figures at the intersection of business, design, engineering, customer success, data, and sales. Success in this role requires skills in experimentation, roadmapping, data analysis, and prototyping—making experimentation a core competency in today’s product landscape.

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Bhavik Patel

Bhavik Patel is the Data Director at Huel, an AB Tasty customer, and the founder of CRAP Talks, a meetup series connecting CRO professionals across Conversion Rate, Analytics, and Product.

Previously, he served as Product Analytics & Experimentation Director at Lean Convert, where he led testing and optimization strategies for top brands. With deep expertise in personalization, experimentation, and data-driven decision-making, Bhavik helps teams evolve from basic A/B testing to strategic, high-impact programs.

With a focus on experimentation, personalization, and data-driven strategy, Bhavik leads teams in creating better digital experiences and smarter testing programs.

His philosophy centers on disruptive testing—bold experiments aimed at breaking past local maximums to deliver statistically meaningful results. “Once you’ve nailed the fundamentals, it’s time to make bigger bets,” he says.

Bhavik also stresses the importance of identifying the right problem before jumping to solutions: “The best solution for the wrong problem isn’t going to have any impact.”

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Talia Wolf

Talia Wolf is a conversion optimization specialist and founder & CEO of Getuplift, where she helps businesses boost revenue, leads, engagement, and sales through emotional targeting, persuasive design, and behavioral data.

She began her career at a social media agency, where she was introduced to CRO, then served as Marketing Director at monday.com before launching her first agency, Conversioner, in 2013.

Talia teaches companies to optimize their online presence using emotionally-driven strategies. She emphasizes that copy and visuals should address customers’ needs rather than focusing solely on the product.

For Talia, emotional marketing is inherently customer-centric and research-based. From there, experiments can be built into A/B testing platforms using a clear North Star metric—whether checkouts, sign-ups, or add-to-carts—to validate hypotheses and drive growth.

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Rand Fishkin

Rand Fishkin is the co-founder and CEO of SparkToro, creators of audience research software designed to make audience insights accessible to all.

He also founded Moz and co-founded Inbound.org with Dharmesh Shah, which was later acquired by HubSpot in 2014. Rand is a frequent global keynote speaker on marketing and entrepreneurship, dedicated to helping people improve their marketing efforts.

Rand highlights the untapped potential in niche markets:
“Many founders don’t consider the power of serving a small, focused group of people—maybe only a few thousand—who truly need their product. If you make it for them, they’ll love it. There’s tremendous opportunity there.”

A strong advocate for risk-taking and experimentation, Rand encourages marketers to identify where their audiences are and engage them directly there.

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Shiva Manjunath

Shiva Manjunath is the Senior Web Product Manager of CRO at Motive and host of the podcast From A to B. With experience at companies like Gartner, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Edible, he’s spent years digging into user behavior and driving real results through experimentation.

Shiva is known for challenging the myth of “best practices,” emphasizing that optimization requires context, not checklists. “If what you believe is this best practice checklist nonsense, all CRO is just a checklist of tasks to do on your site. And that’s so incorrect,” he says.

At Gartner, a simplified form (typically seen as a CRO win) led to a drop in conversions, reinforcing his belief that true experimentation is about understanding why users act, not just what they do.

Through his work and podcast, Shiva aims to demystify CRO and encourage practitioners to think deeper, test smarter, and never stop asking questions.

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Article

9min read

Heatmaps: Your Team’s Secret Weapon for Uncovering Website Gold

What are heatmaps? (and why your team needs them)

Think of heatmaps as your website’s truth-teller. They’re visual snapshots showing exactly where visitors click, scroll, and linger. No guesswork required.

Here’s how they work: Warm colors (reds, oranges) highlight the hotspots where users engage most. Cool colors (blues, greens) reveal the overlooked zones that might need attention.

The best part? Your visitors do all the heavy lifting. They show you what’s working and what’s not, so your team can make changes that actually move the needle.

Spot the signals: When to bring heatmaps into play

Heatmaps aren’t just pretty pictures—they’re your optimization toolkit’s MVP. Here’s how they deliver the biggest impact:

Measuring real engagement

Writing content that no one reads? Heatmaps show you exactly where readers drop off. If only 10% of visitors reach your CTA, it’s time to shake things up.

Tracking what matters: Actions

Are people clicking where you want them to? Heatmaps reveal if visitors complete your desired actions—or where they’re getting stuck instead.

Highlighting where attention sticks (and slips)

What grabs your attention first? What images distract from your main message? Heatmaps answer these questions so you can double down on what works.

Once you have these insights, bigger questions become easier to tackle:

  • Where should we place our most important content?
  • How can we use images and videos more effectively?
  • What’s pulling attention away from our goals?

The essential heatmap lineup every team needs

Most modern heatmap tools offer multiple views of user behavior. We partner closely with some of the major players already. Let’s break down the most common ones you’ll come across.

Click Heatmaps: The Action Tracker

These maps show every click on your page, with dense concentrations appearing as bright white areas surrounded by warm colors. Think of them as your conversion reality check.

What it tells you: Whether people click where you want them to—or if they’re trying to click non-clickable elements that look interactive.

How to use it: Look for clicks scattered around non-interactive text or images. These “frustrated clicks” signal design problems. If users are clicking on underlined text that isn’t a link, or images they expect to be clickable, you need to either make those elements functional or redesign them to look less interactive.

Pro tip: Compare click density on your primary CTA versus other page elements. If secondary elements are getting more clicks than your main conversion button, it’s time to redesign your visual hierarchy.

Scroll Heatmaps: The Attention Meter

See how far down visitors scroll and what percentage of users reach each section of your page. This is crucial for understanding whether your important content is actually being seen.

What it tells you: If users actually see your important content or bail before reaching your CTA. Most importantly, it shows you the “fold line”—where 50% of users stop scrolling.

How to use it: Identify the scroll percentage where you lose half your audience, then ensure all critical elements (value propositions, CTAs, key benefits) appear above that line. If your main CTA is only seen by 20% of visitors, move it higher or add secondary CTAs above the fold.

Pro tip: Use scroll maps to optimize content length. If 80% of users stop reading halfway through your blog post, either shorten the content or add more engaging elements (images, subheadings, interactive elements) to keep them scrolling.

Click Percentage Maps: The Element Analyzer

This view breaks down clicks by specific elements, showing exactly how many people clicked each button, image, or link as a percentage of total visitors.

What it tells you: Which elements deserve prime real estate and which ones are dead weight. You’ll see precise engagement rates for every clickable element on your page.

How to use it: Rank your page elements by click percentage to understand what’s actually driving engagement. If your newsletter signup gets 15% clicks but your main product CTA only gets 3%, you might need to redesign your primary call-to-action or reconsider your page goals.

Pro tip: Use this data to inform A/B tests. If one button consistently outperforms others, test applying its design (color, size, copy) to underperforming elements.

Confetti Maps: The Individual Click Tracker

Instead of showing click density, these maps display each individual click as a colored dot. Perfect for spotting users trying to click non-clickable areas or understanding click patterns in detail.

What it tells you: Where to add functionality or remove confusion. Each dot represents a real user’s intent to interact with something on your page.

How to use it: Look for clusters of dots over non-interactive elements—these represent frustrated users trying to click things that don’t work. Also watch for dots scattered far from any actual buttons or links, which might indicate responsive design issues or accidental clicks.

Pro tip: Filter confetti maps by traffic source or user segment. Mobile users might have different click patterns than desktop users, and organic traffic might behave differently than paid traffic.

Mobile-Specific Heatmaps: The Touch Tracker

Modern tools capture mobile-specific actions like taps, swipes, pinches, and multi-touch gestures—because mobile behavior is fundamentally different from desktop.

What it tells you: How to optimize for the majority of your traffic (since mobile often dominates). Mobile users have different interaction patterns, attention spans, and conversion behaviors.

How to use it: Create separate heatmaps for mobile and desktop traffic. Mobile users typically scroll faster, have shorter attention spans, and interact differently with buttons and forms. Use this data to optimize button sizes, reduce form fields, and adjust content layout for mobile-first experiences.

Pro tip: Pay special attention to thumb-reach zones on mobile heatmaps. Elements that are easy to tap with a thumb (bottom third of screen, right side for right-handed users) typically get higher engagement rates.

Learn more about best practices for designing for mobile experiences with our Mobile Optimization Guide.

Eyes vs. clicks: Understanding the key differences

While heatmaps track mouse movements and clicks, eye-tracking follows actual gaze patterns. Eye-tracking gives deeper insights but requires specialized equipment most teams don’t have.

The good news? AI-powered tools like Feng-Gui and EyeQuant now simulate eye-tracking through algorithms, making this technology more accessible.

Bottom line: Start with heatmaps. They’re easier to implement and give you actionable insights right away.

Features that make or break your heatmapping game

Not all heatmap tools are created equal. Here’s what your team should prioritize:

Must-have features:

  • Audience Segmentation: Create maps for specific user groups (new vs. returning visitors, mobile vs. desktop)
  • Map Comparison: Easily compare results across different segments
  • Page Templates: Aggregate data for similar page types (crucial for e-commerce sites)
  • Mobile Optimization: Track touch, scroll, and swipe behaviors
  • Export Capabilities: Share results with your team effortlessly
  • Dynamic Element Tracking: Capture interactions with dropdowns, sliders, and AJAX-loaded content
  • Historical Data: Preserve old heatmaps even after design changes

Test smarter with heatmap insights

Here’s where things get exciting. Heatmaps show you the problems, but how do you know if your fixes actually work?

Enter A/B testing.

This three-step approach turns insights into results:

  • Identify problems with heatmaps
  • Test potential solutions with A/B testing
  • Choose the highest-performing solution based on data

Real Example:

Nonprofit UNICEF France wanted to better understand how visitors perceived its homepage ahead of a major redesign.

Their move: UNICEF France combined on-site surveys with heatmapping to gather both qualitative feedback and visual behavioral data.

The result: Heatmaps showed strong engagement with the search bar, while surveys confirmed it was seen as the most useful element. Less-used features, like social share icons, were removed in the redesign—resulting in a cleaner, more user-focused homepage.

Continue reading this case study

Connect the dots and act with confidence

Ready to put heatmaps to work? Here’s your game plan:

Start small. Pick one high-traffic page and run your first heatmap analysis.

Look for patterns. Are users clicking where you expect? Scrolling to your key content? Getting stuck somewhere?

Test your hunches. Use A/B testing to validate any changes before rolling them out site-wide.

Iterate forward. Heatmaps aren’t a one-and-done tool but part of your ongoing optimization process.

Remember: every click tells a story. Every scroll reveals intent. Your visitors are already showing you how to improve—you just need to listen.


Ready to see what your visitors are really doing? Heatmaps give you the insights. A/B testing helps you act on them. Together, they’re your path to better conversions and happier users.