Key Performance Indicators

What are Key Performance Indicators?

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the measurement by which you can determine if you are meeting your goal of providing your users with useful and pleasant experience. These metrics demonstrate what your values and priorities are and ideally on what is essential to your user.

Why Use Key Performance Indicators?

In your effort to provide excellent user experience, you will implement changes to your product or service. The only way to determine if these changes are effective is by measuring the results. Quality metrics provide you with the platform to measure the results of your previous process with your improved process. After which you can determine if the changes moved you closer to your goal and what further improvements are necessary. Ultimately Pearson's Law applies: "That which is measured improves. That which is measured and reported improves exponentially."

How to Create Key Performance Indicators

Key Performance Indicators are established during the planning phase. Before you can improve a process, you have to outline what is “improvement.” This outline will serve as the basis from which you create your metrics. You can use your Feedback Loop to collect and analyze the information based on your metrics. It is vital that you establish metrics based on the following guidelines:

• Your metrics should be quantifiable: You are looking for results such as “85% of clients are satisfied” rather than “most clients are satisfied.”
• Your metrics should be actionable: Be sure to create actionable metrics, such as customer satisfaction or ease of use.
• Your metrics should be trackable over time: Construct your metrics in such a way that you can determine if the quality is improving.
• Your metrics should be maintained and updated regularly: Be sure to test your metrics consistently and to adjust them as your product or service changes.
• Your metrics are tied to your goals: Make sure your metrics focus on what is essential to your user and will drive the success of your product or service.