Reflections & Thoughts
Metrics-driven approach; A double-edged sword in the product development survival kit.
In any tech-driven problem-solving, the metrics and data-driven approach are the new default. A lot of startups have jumped onto the bandwagon of calling metrics-driven product development the new ‘mantra’ to creating great products. I beg to differ!
Data and metrics are such an integral part of any product development cycle that a product manager or a designer without them is like a fish out of water. However, in today’s rapidly growing startup climate, a lot more emphasis is given to the metrics-driven approach than the problem-driven approach. While they are two sides of the same coin, if you ignore one over the other, it can not only be misleading, but even perilous. The metrics-driven approach is a double-edged sword in the product development survival kit.
From the investors to the last member of the team of a tech-driven product company, if there was one united goal with no dispute, it would be that of creating a ‘great product’ that solves a critical problem in a unique manner. And that’s as it should be. In fact, the entire ecosystem of tech-driven product development thrives on that journey towards the ‘holy grail’ of great product development and design. But can the greatness of a product be found only at the crest and trough of graphs and numbers? What about the role played by creativity, moral obligations, and our responsibility as professionals, to ourselves, the organization, the profession, and the users we serve?
In all probability, in today’s mad over metrics-driven approach, most companies often pressure their people to keep the primary focus on metrics as goals. Sometimes this is done in a hurry in order to claim the market share, to attract potential investments early on, and even for personal gain. It certainly helps the team reap some short-term results and as these quick results reach a well-articulated corporate presentation, the ‘success’ (through mediocrity) gets misinterpreted as ‘excellence’ for everyone else. But where do we draw the line if the intent is to create a great product that solves the problem and to survive the brutal competition from the industry’s ‘best practices? Well, if only it were that easy!
How metrics can also be a mirage that drives mediocrity
Recently, a statement I read claimed to have provided the simplest definition and a formula to build great products. It read- ‘It doesn’t matter how beautiful your product is, it doesn’t matter how well it works, if it doesn’t improve the metrics, it’s not good enough!’. It sounded like a perfect closing note of a TED talk. Although the statement may sound ‘simple’ or straightforward but is rather deceiving. Without any doubt, ‘Improvement in the metrics’ is one of the potential outcomes of a great product, but can it really be the yardstick with which one can work towards creating a great product? I have my doubts!
Here is a real incident, the perfect metaphor to explain this.
A zoo in Egypt apparently thought it could change a couple of donkeys to zebras, their more exotic cousins, by painting some stripes on them! The incident came to light when a student put the story up on his social media platform, a story that was subsequently confirmed by local veterinarians too. But the zoo maintained its views and kept calling the donkeys with stripes, zebras.
In fact, this was originally done with donkeys in Mexico during the 1940s. In that black-and-white photography era, tourists would come into the Mexican city of Tijuana, and line up for the chance to have a picture taken with the donkeys painted to look like zebras. For decades, business boomed. It must have made complete sense to their business after analyzing the effort and impact of getting real zebras. Going by the metrics-driven approach, a zebra is, after all, a donkey with stripes! And it delivers the same business outcome. If it doesn’t work well, blame it on the people who couldn’t paint well. And how do you fix it? Bring someone who can do the job more accurately. Ta-da! It’s a zebra!
What matters the most to you: Success or excellence?
A metrics-delivering product isn’t always a great product. In fact, great products deliver good metrics as a byproduct. In the first case, the product is probably driven by the metrics alone. The second is driven by the intent to solve a problem in the right manner. When employees are pressured to focus on the metrics and not the problem, they will respond with the stories that the leadership wants to hear; the smarter the people, the more striking the results will be. It would even potentially cannibalize the better-performing areas of the business. And all this might go unnoticed if the focus is only on one single metric.
I may be no closer to solving the riddle of finding the secret DNA of a great product, but what I have learned through my experience so far is that a great product does not come out of simply repeating a great process, or from a success formula; it means a lot more than the stories told by the numbers, graphs, and the balance sheets of the business. Metrics should be used for better understanding rather than as a way to impose results. This will happen only if we understand that setting metrics for goals can actually make things worse. In the end, it is a matter of the leadership’s choice and perspective. Whether the company wants products with short-term goals that deliver pre-decided metrics and calls them successful by any means, or whether the company wants to have a product that is known for its excellence, and provides long-term sustainability.
The important question is this: when we think of a great product, what do we mean: is it about achieving success or excellence? What drives each one of us to form the strategy we take to solve a problem? Are we doing it because everybody else is doing it, regardless of what we think is right, or are we in it to do the right thing, regardless of what everybody else is doing? Our answers will lead us and our work to where it belongs!
Cheers,
Dhaneesh Jameson | LinkedIn.
Related articles for reference.
- If You Want to Be Creative, Don’t Be Data Driven: 3 ideas that will completely change how you think about data by Bill Pardi
- Stop letting the data decide by Niels Hoven
