January 2, 2018

When we use metrics alone to assess the value of something, we fall into the realm of making half–informed decisions based on somewhat arbitrary indicators that can hold sway over a business.

Is the high bounce rate good because the user has come and found what they needed and left? Or is it bad, because they came and left disappointed? Is time on site an indicator of a customer’s appreciation of the product and content, or a reflection of a customer’s frustration at not being able to find something (or a browser left open that timed out of the session)?

Obsessing over numbers derived from out–of–the–box analytics can pitch our process into an endless loop of trying to move numbers in a direction that can’t tell a full story, and may even lead some of us into implementing dark patterns to reach those numbers.

When the goal becomes a number, the human element, the user experience, gets lost. Designers and product leaders should combine qualitative and quantitative data to assess the performance of their product designs if they want to make better decisions.

You need to start making measurement part of your design practice. To do that you’ll want to spend a day in the amazing UX Immersion: Interactions workshop with Kate Rutter. Kate is a master at the intersection of business performance and great design, which is exactly why you want to learn about UX Metrics from her.