Product Analytics Instrumentation is Critical and Rare
Published on Apr 02, 2024 by Craig Sturgis
Key question for any software product release big or small:
How do we know whether it's successfully doing what we set out to do?
The best way to answer this question?
Effective product analytics instrumentation. Preferably measuring well thought out leading indicators of success.
The percentage of effectively instrumented releases I've seen in almost two decades?
Single digits.
A huge chunk of the industry just doesn't get instrumentation or why it's necessary.
To be fair, I didn't get it either until it blew up in my face.
After we launched our startup in 2015, the traction we thought would be there didn't materialize. We flailed taking our best guess on where to focus next.
Even as a consultant in the last few years, nobody I've worked with yet had well instrumented anything at the start.
We can do better! The tools are better than ever if you can build the buy in and the capacity to try.
Start with your next release:
- Define success metrics up front
- Instrument as part of your definition of done
- Set a calendar reminder to review as a team
- Learn and iterate