The Future of Experimentation: A Research Agenda Based on Practitioners’ Reflections

Nils Stotz; Kevin Anderson; Paul Drews

doi:10.1007/978-3-032-22375-3_7

The Future of Experimentation: A Research Agenda Based on Practitioners’ Reflections

Nils Stotz
, Kevin Anderson^*
, Paul Drews

^*Corresponding author for this work

Leuphana University of Lüneburg

Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Article in conference proceedings › Research › peer-review

Abstract

Experimentation has become a cornerstone of agile, evidence-driven software development. To explore how it may evolve in the coming decade, we collected qualitative data from 58 experts across the global experimentation community. Using an inductive thematic analysis inspired by the Gioia methodology, we identified six interrelated trends that capture how practitioners envision the future of experimentation: AI-augmented workflows, segment-level personalization, platformization and warehouse-native architectures, expansion beyond web contexts, rigor at scale, and cultural capability building. These trends highlight experimentation’s evolution from a technical testing practice toward a socio-technical learning system. Building on these insights, the paper outlines a practice-inspired research agenda for the next decade of evidence-based product development.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming : 27th International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2026, Proceedings
Editors	Alfredo Goldman, Sabrina Marczak, Graziela Simone Tonin, Dairton Bassi, Tiago Silva da Silva, Eva-Maria Schön, Michael Neumann, Andrea Pinna
Number of pages	9
Publisher	Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland
Publication date	2026
Pages	109-117
ISBN (Print)	978-3-032-22374-6
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-032-22375-3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-22375-3_7
Publication status	Published - 2026
Event	27th International Conference on Agile Software Development - XP 2026 - Insper Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa, São Paulo, Brazil Duration: 08.04.2026 → 11.04.2026 Conference number: 27 https://conf.researchr.org/home/xp-2026 https://doi.org/10.25798/6zfb-8q95

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2026.

Research areas and keywords

A/B Testing
Continuous Experimentation
Product Development
Business informatics

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Management Information Systems
Control and Systems Engineering
Business and International Management
Information Systems
Modelling and Simulation
Information Systems and Management

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-032-22375-3_7Licence: CC BY

Cite this

Stotz, N., Anderson, K., & Drews, P. (2026). The Future of Experimentation: A Research Agenda Based on Practitioners’ Reflections. In A. Goldman, S. Marczak, G. S. Tonin, D. Bassi, T. Silva da Silva, E.-M. Schön, M. Neumann, & A. Pinna (Eds.), Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming: 27th International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2026, Proceedings (pp. 109-117). (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing; Vol. 578 LNBIP). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-22375-3_7

Stotz, Nils ; Anderson, Kevin ; Drews, Paul. / The Future of Experimentation : A Research Agenda Based on Practitioners’ Reflections. Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming: 27th International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2026, Proceedings. editor / Alfredo Goldman ; Sabrina Marczak ; Graziela Simone Tonin ; Dairton Bassi ; Tiago Silva da Silva ; Eva-Maria Schön ; Michael Neumann ; Andrea Pinna. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland, 2026. pp. 109-117 (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing).

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abstract = "Experimentation has become a cornerstone of agile, evidence-driven software development. To explore how it may evolve in the coming decade, we collected qualitative data from 58 experts across the global experimentation community. Using an inductive thematic analysis inspired by the Gioia methodology, we identified six interrelated trends that capture how practitioners envision the future of experimentation: AI-augmented workflows, segment-level personalization, platformization and warehouse-native architectures, expansion beyond web contexts, rigor at scale, and cultural capability building. These trends highlight experimentation{\textquoteright}s evolution from a technical testing practice toward a socio-technical learning system. Building on these insights, the paper outlines a practice-inspired research agenda for the next decade of evidence-based product development.",

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Stotz, N, Anderson, K & Drews, P 2026, The Future of Experimentation: A Research Agenda Based on Practitioners’ Reflections. in A Goldman, S Marczak, GS Tonin, D Bassi, T Silva da Silva, E-M Schön, M Neumann & A Pinna (eds), Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming: 27th International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2026, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol. 578 LNBIP, Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland, pp. 109-117, 27th International Conference on Agile Software Development - XP 2026, São Paulo, Brazil, 08.04.26. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-22375-3_7

The Future of Experimentation: A Research Agenda Based on Practitioners’ Reflections. / Stotz, Nils; Anderson, Kevin; Drews, Paul.
Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming: 27th International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2026, Proceedings. ed. / Alfredo Goldman; Sabrina Marczak; Graziela Simone Tonin; Dairton Bassi; Tiago Silva da Silva; Eva-Maria Schön; Michael Neumann; Andrea Pinna. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland, 2026. p. 109-117 (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing; Vol. 578 LNBIP).

Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Article in conference proceedings › Research › peer-review

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AB - Experimentation has become a cornerstone of agile, evidence-driven software development. To explore how it may evolve in the coming decade, we collected qualitative data from 58 experts across the global experimentation community. Using an inductive thematic analysis inspired by the Gioia methodology, we identified six interrelated trends that capture how practitioners envision the future of experimentation: AI-augmented workflows, segment-level personalization, platformization and warehouse-native architectures, expansion beyond web contexts, rigor at scale, and cultural capability building. These trends highlight experimentation’s evolution from a technical testing practice toward a socio-technical learning system. Building on these insights, the paper outlines a practice-inspired research agenda for the next decade of evidence-based product development.

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KW - Business informatics

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DO - 10.1007/978-3-032-22375-3_7

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PB - Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland

Y2 - 8 April 2026 through 11 April 2026

ER -

Stotz N, Anderson K, Drews P. The Future of Experimentation: A Research Agenda Based on Practitioners’ Reflections. In Goldman A, Marczak S, Tonin GS, Bassi D, Silva da Silva T, Schön EM, Neumann M, Pinna A, editors, Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming: 27th International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2026, Proceedings. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland. 2026. p. 109-117. (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing). doi: 10.1007/978-3-032-22375-3_7