KPIs in UX Design: Why Do We Need Indicators?

KPIs are tools used in companies to monitor business evolution. But not just for finance or marketing, indicators are also important in UX Design. In this article, I'll explain what KPIs are and how to use them to improve the user experience.

We already know how the process works. The company determines its goals and each of the areas and teams also establishes its objectives. But how is it possible to monitor activities to understand if we are on the right track to achieve these goals?

For this, it is essential that we establish the key performance indicators or KPIs. But what does this have to do with UX Design? Throughout this article, I will explain what KPIs are and what types there are, and how they can help you improve your user experience.

What are KPIs and how important are they?

KPI is the acronym for Key Performance Indicator and stands for Key Performance Indicator --- in free translation. KPIs are tools that allow you to measure the progress of activity to monitor how far or close you are to a goal or objective. Because of this, it is easy to conclude that KPIs are widely used in companies and in the business world as a whole. In this sense, KPIs are important because they support decision-making and are the basis for monitoring decisions already taken.

In addition, performance indicators help keep teams focused on meeting established goals and objectives. As Peter Drucker said: What gets measured gets done.

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Main features of KPIs

The main basis for building effective KPIs is the data and information collected about the business. Based on reliable data, the development of indicators must contain 3 main characteristics:

• Quantitative: indicators can be translated into numbers;
• Practical: KPIs are integrated into the company's existing processes;
• Actionable: they are easily put to use.

Benefits of KPIs

KPIs can be used in different ways and at different levels of the company, being linked from strategic objectives to specific team goals. Therefore, the benefits of the indicators are not only in the performance of the teams in isolation but are also fundamental for the company's growth. In this sense, the main benefits of a KPI are:

• monitor changes and support decision making;
• keep teams focused on what is a priority for the company;
• provide tangibility for the concept of success.

Monitoring indicators can provide an overview of the actions that were taken in a project, campaign, or investment. When decisions are made, it is important to have a way to measure their success or failure, to correct the course, or even to abandon the idea before it causes greater harm to the company. Therefore, monitoring KPIs is important to keep up with these decisions and changes.

Conclusion

Throughout this article, I've shown how KPIs are important both for the business and directly for the UX Design area. However, it is important to make it clear that KPIs are not enough if they are not working in conjunction with other tools.

When we analyze a KPI, we can observe the success of carrying out a task (task success rate) for example. But the fact that the user can perform an action does not necessarily mean that he had a good experience during the task.

Thus, we must use a range of indicators that allow us to have a better view of the scenario and context as a whole. Looking only one way can make us neglect the other.

So use KPIs because they do matter, but always have other sources of data and information to complement these analyses.