Using data to measure

Part 2 of the Blueprint turns engagement from a feeling into a number you can act on. It covers why measurement matters, a three-step KPI framework you can apply to any conversion event in the loop, and how to visualise the results so the right action becomes obvious.

Using Data to Measure

…and why it’s so important

It is really important that we can measure engagement. Most mobile app and web SDKs have event analytics tools built in, so take advantage of this to collect and use data.

This guide doesn’t cover the technical specifics of collecting data, but it’s worth establishing the foundations before the framework itself.

Why measure?

As we saw from the DMAIC cycle, measuring matters because it allows you to understand where you are in order to get where you want to be.

The more you measure (not the more you collect), the more you build an intuitive understanding of what is going to work, and of what actions will make things more engaging for the user.

Measurement also lets you test new ideas and find out whether something you believe will work actually does. That is covered in Testing and Learning.

The Data Cycle

Measurement is paramount for understanding how successful we’ve been at engaging users, but it doesn’t operate in isolation.

Born out of lean management’s PDCA cycle (“Plan, Do, Check, Act”) of continuous improvement, I have adapted the cycle to our use case, allowing teams to iteratively test, implement, and refine changes for ongoing success.

Collecting data is the first step in deploying the metric framework, and it’s a natural byproduct of users interacting with the app (with the correct analytics SDK deployed).

Measurement turns this data into numbers. Visualisation turns the numbers into insights, which give us direction on what actions to take. We act on insights, collect more data, and test whether we’ve succeeded in increasing engagement.

Byproducts beyond navigation data

Byproducts that don’t immediately come with hard data also need a way to be measured. They aren’t covered by the metric framework in this part, but I tend to think in terms of the following aspects, each covered in Byproducts:

• Branding
• User satisfaction
• Social communities
• User feedback
• Technology