In March 2017, metrics dominated the conversation in product teams — sometimes for the worse. This post looks at how dashboards and KPIs, initially intended to inform better decisions, became the main objective instead. Teams started optimizing for numbers that looked good on paper but didn’t translate to meaningful outcomes. The result was product decisions driven by targets rather than user value. A few teams resisted the trend, balancing data with insight and asking whether metrics reflec...
By late 2018, some orgs embraced North Star metrics and broader storytelling around KPIs. Others remained stuck in gamified dashboards, failing to connect numbers to actual impact.
Today, more mature organizations use metrics with context — triangulating quantitative data with customer feedback and qualitative research. But the temptation to optimize for vanity metrics still exists, especially under executive pressure.
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