Experimentation best practices for 2026

The state of experimentation

Experimentation has gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have. But the bar keeps rising. Here's what the best teams are doing differently in 2026.

Practice 1: Experiment on everything

The most successful teams don't just A/B test their UI. They experiment on:

• Backend algorithms
• Pricing and packaging
• Onboarding flows
• Email campaigns
• Infrastructure changes

Practice 2: Measure what matters

Vanity metrics are out. Leading teams are focused on:

• Revenue per user
• Long-term retention
• Feature adoption depth
• Time to value

Practice 3: Democratize experimentation

Experimentation shouldn't be limited to the data science team. Enable every product manager, designer, and engineer to run experiments.

Practice 4: Build an experimentation culture

The best experimentation programs are cultural, not just technical. Celebrate learnings from failed experiments as much as wins.

Practice 5: Use AI to accelerate

AI can help with experiment design, analysis, and even suggesting what to test next. Teams that embrace AI-assisted experimentation are seeing 2-3x more experiments per quarter.