How to Coach Enterprise Experimentation
Summary
In this talk, Alyssa Briggs shares her experience coaching enterprise experimentation, emphasizing that experimentation is a mindset for problem-solving by validating assumptions through small, fast tests. She highlights that executives often support experimentation in theory but struggle to embed it into daily work. Using Intuit as a case study, Briggs illustrates how simply training and embedding experiment coaches within teams transformed the company’s culture, enabling tens of thousands of experiments annually that generate millions in revenue. She describes three essential practices for experiment coaches: collaboratively planning experiments using an experiment grid, helping teams embrace and learn from failures by facing data honestly and conducting quick customer research, and catalyzing organizational change by spreading the coaching role and uncovering new opportunities for experimentation beyond product design. Briggs walks the audience through a live experiment about a name memory trick to demonstrate how to develop hypotheses and validate assumptions quickly. She also recounts a story where a small sales experiment disproved executives’ skepticism about a new product tier, leading to significant business impact and wider cultural adoption of experimentation. Briggs encourages everyone to adopt the experiment coaching mindset and start running small experiments to shift team behaviors and company culture.
Key Insights
-
•
Embedding experiment coaches within existing teams is key to sustaining a culture of experimentation.
-
•
Experimentation thrives on embracing small failures to avoid costly large ones.
-
•
Executives often support experimentation top-down, but real change happens when coaches integrate experiments into daily workflows.
-
•
The experiment grid is a powerful yet simple tool for collaboratively planning experiments by unpacking assumptions and defining testable hypotheses.
-
•
Most teams fail their first experiment, and coaches must help them face the data and learn rather than become discouraged.
-
•
Quick, informal customer research after an experiment helps uncover root causes and increases team engagement.
-
•
Consistently planning follow-up experiments builds momentum and prevents the 'one-and-done' pitfall.
-
•
Experiment coaching is not a full-time role but can be integrated as 10-20% of a team member’s responsibilities.
-
•
Experiments can test not just products but internal processes and business assumptions, unlocking broader innovation.
-
•
Demonstrating successful experiments with quantitative data can transform executive skepticism into enthusiastic support, driving significant business impact.
Notable Quotes
"If you’re afraid of failure, that’s okay. With experimentation, you’re going to fail—but in little tiny ways that don’t really matter."
"Executives get experimentation but often it doesn’t stick when people go back to their normal teams."
"The simple thing that worked at Intuit was training and embedding experiment coaches in teams."
"An experiment coach spends about 10 to 20 percent of their time helping the team change mindsets and actions."
"The most important tool is not for running experiments, but for planning them—the experiment grid."
"If we do X, then Y percent of people will do Z—that’s how you frame hypotheses to learn from both success and failure."
"It’s better to run lots of quick, cheap experiments to remove doubt than to wait for the perfect, statistically significant test."
"Nine out of ten teams fail their first experiment, which is normal but can be demoralizing."
"Helping your team face the data honestly and then diving into customer conversations helps uncover what went wrong."
"You know you’ve succeeded as a coach when you put yourself out of a job by giving away the role."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"The future of work is about making the user the hero—humans and machines working together."
Lavy Kumar Kat Temple Shan Sebastian Tara Jensen Jenn ChouFuture of Work
June 9, 2021
"I’m most excited to get back in the office because I miss that culture and feeling like I’m working with friends every day."
Andreas Huebner Amy Takata Craig BrookesWhat Is It Like To Be Part of The UX Team at Compass?
March 11, 2021
"Regular surveys showed teaching quality mattered 11%, but logistic regression revealed it actually represents 77% of the decision."
Ricardo MartinsUnlocking the power of advanced quantitative methods
March 12, 2025
"Satya Nadella’s leadership feels authentic—he puts empathy at the center of everything he does."
Monty HammontreeThe Future of UX Research
December 3, 2020
"The designers started to send notes of thank you to the ex members of the design ops team for making their life easier."
Benjamin RealShowing the Value of DesignOps by Not Having a DesignOps Team
October 21, 2020
"You've got to slow down to go fast; make space in your schedule to think strategically."
Kate TowseyAsk Me Anything (AMA) with Kate Towsey
April 2, 2025
"The weakest insight method might win simply because of the relationship to the power structure."
Steve Portigal Chris Chapo Kelly Goto Christian RohrerDiscussion
May 13, 2015
"Offering the ability to save your progress allows users with disabilities to complete tasks on their own time."
Sam ProulxOnline Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
March 28, 2023
"Consistency between control labels and prototype instructions matters a lot, because mismatches can cause big problems for alternative navigation."
Sam ProulxPrototype Reviews, People With Disabilities, and You
October 1, 2021
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
What are the benefits of linking AI-powered research repositories with tools like Slack for organizational adoption?
What strategies help manage vision creation in organizations that are top-down and frequently reactive?
How can play help overcome the ‘messy middle’ between research insights and decision-making in organizations?