Metric systems · 6 slides
How to know we are not just busy
A metric earns its place when it supports a decision: continue, change the approach, or stop.
01 · The logic
Evidence of work is not the result
Activity is useful for diagnosis. Value appears only when the product, user journey, or outcome changes.
Every arrow is a testable influence hypothesis. A local counter does not prove value or causality.
02 · Shared outcome
Different levers need one causal model
Each discipline needs local diagnostic metrics, but the team still shares one user outcome.
Make the journey reliable
Lead time · failure rate · recovery time
Not the goal: Commits · lines of code
Make the journey clear
Task success · completion time · avoidable steps
Not the goal: Screens · mockups
Deliver the promised value
Activation · retention · guardrails
Not the goal: Feature count · context-free activity
Bring qualified intent
Useful entry sessions · completion · return
Not the goal: Publication count · reach alone
03 · Speed and stability
Ship quickly without breaking the journey
Delivery metrics explain whether ideas can be tested safely. They do not prove product value on their own.
Time to market
Decision to the first usable release
Cycle time
Work started to team-level done
Change lead time
Committed change to stable production use
Stability guardrails
Delivery quality makes learning possible. User and product outcomes decide whether the direction was useful.
04 · The hierarchy
Do not skip levels between output and value
Every transition is a hypothesis to validate, not automatic causality.
05 · The decision
Four questions prevent weeks of pointless work
If the team cannot answer them, it does not yet know why the work matters or how the result will be judged.
Metrics shorten the path from effort to a useful decision.