It's great to see stories of technical work that include various things considered and tried. Iteration and experimentation are so powerful, but success stories so often hide that because it makes the success look less perfect, less brilliant.
Author here. Agree 100%! It's often what didn't work that is omitted. But there's so much juice in failed experiments — it's important to share with others.
I skimmed until I hit the screenshot of cost dropping 80%. Convinced! Trying this myself now.