The Filter Redesign That Crashed and Burned (& What It Taught Us)

Jodi O'Prandy, VP of Product at 1stDibs, joins host Lihong Hicken on UX Stories to break down what luxury e-commerce and travel booking have in common — and where they diverge. They discuss how trust factors differ between a $500 flight and a $50,000 piece of fine art, the TripAdvisor filter redesign that failed because it skipped user testing, why hyper-personalization is the future of e-commerce, and what tools like Sprig are doing for modern product teams. 🔑 Topics covered: Trust signals in high-value vs. commodity purchases Why cruise shoppers rejected Google Flights-style filters How AI agents, image search, and natural language are reshaping shopping The case for moderated user research in the AI era Rapid fire: go-to testing tools and gathering customer feedback at scale ⏱️ Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro & Jodi's background 1:37 - $500 flight vs. $50K art: How trust differs 3:58 - How long does it take to buy a $50K art piece? 5:52 - Designing for conversion, not just looks 7:00 - How 1stDibs tests new features (focus groups + A/B testing) 7:42 - Why in-person & moderated research still matters 8:42 - The value of body language & behavioral cues 9:57 - Story: The TripAdvisor filter redesign that crashed and burned 13:07 - Lesson learned: Know your users before you build 13:27 - The future of e-commerce: AI agents, image search & personalization 14:48 - Why one-size-fits-all no longer works in e-commerce 16:22 - Image search, AI agents & serving every customer segment 17:02 - Hyper-personalization at 1stDibs 18:03 - Rapid fire: Go-to user testing tool (Sprig) 19:16 - Magic wand: Making feedback gathering easier at scale 🎙️ Guest: Jodi O'Prandy — VP of Product Management at 1stDibs, formerly TripAdvisor & Priceline 🎙️ Host: Lihong Hicken — Co-founder of TheySaid, former UserTesting team (zero to IPO) Subscribe for more conversations with product leaders on building great user experiences.