Skip to main content
Arthur Smith, Product Engineer

Arthurficial

§ Writing

Essays & case studies on measurement, engineering, and shipping.

I write to think. Most of these are long-form case studies about specific things that happened on specific products, with the data intact. No stock photos, no AI-generated hero images.

Case StudyApril 2026

How Session Replays Killed Two Hypotheses and Found the Real Product

I set out to answer which view users prefer. I ended up discovering neither one mattered — and that the real product was a search bar tucked in a sidebar.

9 min read
~1,700 words
Case StudyApril 2026

Building a Product Intelligence Loop: From Dashboard to Culture Change

Someone half-jokingly told me I could own our analytics tool. Eight weeks later, our CTO was self-serving data to challenge product assumptions on launch morning.

8 min read
~1,500 words
EssayApril 2026

Test Coverage as a Team Practice, Not a Metric

I joined a codebase with below 1% frontend test coverage. Eight weeks later it was above 16%. The number is not the story — the story is what happened in the weeks I was not writing any tests at all.

6 min read
~1,200 words
Case StudyDecember 2024

Lessons in Digital Equity: My Early Education in UX for All Socio-economic Backgrounds

A real-world case that highlights the importance of inclusivity in UX design, reminding us that one-size-fits-all solutions often fit no one well.

7 min read
~1,200 words
© 2026 Arthur Smith. All rights reserved.Vol. III · No. 04 · Nashville