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👏 Today, in 5 Minutes or Less, you’ll Learn

• Understand the "why" behind the data and the company's value proposition to ensure user needs remain at the forefront.

• Different companies prioritize different metrics based on their value proposition. Identify these priorities and capture relevant data to inform your design decisions.

• Collaborate with other departments to understand their goals and the metrics they use and gain a holistic understanding of the business landscape.

🧐 Metrics Don’t Define Design; They Fuel It. 

• Are you feeling overwhelmed by the constant influx of user data and metrics?

• Are you being pressured to translate them into immediate design decisions? 

You're not alone. Many creative leaders struggle with overemphasizing short-term metrics, fearing it undermines the long-term value of design and its ability to solve real problems for people. 

It can be easy to lose sight of the user, the very soul of what makes design impactful. So before metrics become the villain, let's reframe the narrative with tools and ideas to navigate this data-driven landscape confidently.

Strategy 1

Seek Context and Understand the "Why"

Numbers can be deceptive. Dig deeper into the "why" behind the data, and it will reveal the company’s value proposition. These three companies, Zoom, Apple, and Grammarly, have unique value propositions. We recognize them by their marketing tagline.

• Zoom - Free video conferencing that works well (Price efficiency)

• Apple iPhone - The experience is the product. (Customer Experience)

• Grammarly - Great writing, simplified (Increased Productivity).

Value Proposition Drives Data Collection

Value proposition (in brackets above) is how each company differentiates itself from its competition. What data a business gathers will vary according to its value proposition.

Below are three examples of companies, their value propositions, and the likely data they will capture to measure progress.

Please note that this is a guesstimate and massive oversimplification to help explain the importance of knowing the ‘why’ behind the data deluge you may experience at work.

Value Prop: Price Efficiency and Cost-effectiveness

Companies focusing on price efficiency and cost-effectiveness will concentrate on capturing data that lets them pinpoint inefficiencies and areas for improvement, standardization, and optimization using automation. Examples might include:

Price Efficient Companies

• Canva - Online design and publishing platform

• Airtable - Collaborative workspace platform 

• Twilio - Cloud communications platform

• Zoom - Video conferencing platform 

Methods to Track Price Efficiency

• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) - The cost to acquire new customers

• Churn Rate - The percentage of users who stop using a product after a specific time. 

• Conversion Rate - The percentage of users who take a desired action, such as purchasing or signing up for a free trial. 

Value Prop: Customer Experience and Outcome

Companies focusing on customer experience and outcomes want to discover, understand, and empathize with users and do so iteratively and throughout development.  Examples might include:

Customer Experience Companies

• Apple - Consumer electronics, computer software, and online services

• Netflix - Streaming entertainment 

• HubSpot - Marketing, sales, and customer service software

• Zappos - Online shoe retailer

Methods to Track Customer Experience

• System Usability Scale (SUS) - A questionnaire about perceptions of the usability of a website, software application, or product.

• User Error Rate - How often have users tried but failed to complete a task, process, or activity.

• Customer lifetime value (CLTV) - The total money a customer is expected to spend on a product over their lifetime.

Value Prop: Increase Customer Productivity

Companies that compete on building products that make customers more productive at work and in their hobbies might want to capture qualitative (user journey) and quantitative data, including:

Customer Productivity Companies

• Asana - Project management software

• Grammarly - Writing assistant software

• Duolingo - Language learning app 

• Skillshare - A learning community for creators

Methods to Track Customer Productivity

• Visitor Intent - why customers engage with a brand and what they seek- information or a transaction. 

• Retention rate - Focuses on customers with a positive brand perception who will likely stay with a company's service or product.

• Customer effort score (CES) - measures a customer's experience regarding the overall effort required to use the product or service.

Understanding the "why" behind data collection is crucial to navigating the data deluge. Companies with different value propositions, like price efficiency, customer experience, or increased productivity, will gather and analyze data in distinct ways.

By seeking context and understanding the purpose behind data collection, you can better understand the companies you work for and their choices.

Strategy 2

Ask the Right Questions

Talk to your colleagues in other departments to learn which data and metrics help them do their job. Here are some questions you could ask them.

• Product Management - how do you predict and measure the value of products we build? 

• Engineering - How do you measure the performance of products you develop?

• Marketing - What is the company’s value proposition, and how do you measure it? 

• Sales - Where does profit come from? Who are the 20% of customers who bring in 80% of the revenue?

• Data Science - What hypothesis are you using to measure a product's usability/desirability/viability? What is the source of this data?

💥 The Short Of It

The ever-growing volume of user data and metrics can be overwhelming, especially for leaders prioritizing user-centricity. However, by employing the two strategies outlined in this article, you can leverage data as a powerful tool to guide your design decisions while remaining true to your user-centered approach. 

By understanding the "why" behind the data, aligning with the company's value proposition, and collaborating with other departments, you can ensure your designs are user-centric and contribute to the business's overall success. 

Remember, metrics are a compass, not a destination. Embrace data as a valuable ally in your design process. Use it to navigate the course, but don't let it dictate the journey.

That’s it for this week!

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With ❤️ from Sally

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