Data analytics has transformed the way many product managers approach product enhancements, creating strong demand for product managers with skills and expertise in defining and analyzing product metrics to make more valuable product decisions. But there is one essential element that is often left out of the conversation, and that is strategy. How does my product decisions support the overall strategy of the business, and am I tracking the right metrics based upon that strategy?

1. Connecting Analytics to Strategy:
Keeping Your Corporate
Objective In Sight
Tom Evans Dave Martin
With: Moderated by:
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2. About the Series
6 Education-packed sessions

3. 3
Click on the Questions panel to
interact with the presenters

4. About Tom Evans
Senior Principal Consultant & Trainer, 280 Group
Tom is an internationally recognized authority in product management, product marketing, international business, go-
to-market strategies, business partnerships and entrepreneurship. He has helped start-ups through Fortune 500
companies create and launch winning products and has led business development efforts in the US and global
markets. Tom has been responsible for successfully developing and implementing Product Management & Product
Marketing methodologies at multiple companies. Tom’s experience covers numerous vertical industries, technologies,
and international markets. His industry experience includes complex software solutions for manufacturing, document
management, call centers, financial services, and project management. Tom lived and worked in Brazil and has
conducted business internationally, including Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Tom was a
contributing author to the “42 Rules of Product Management” and to the “42 Rules of Product Marketing”.
About Dave Martin
Chief Product Officer, Tes
Dave is Chief Product Officer at Tes where he can fulfil his obsession with lean product management, growth innovation
and process improvement. He has learned loads from working or consulting with a few interesting folks such as PepsiCo,
Google, Monster.com, Essence Digital, Skybet, Comparethemarket.com, Bauer, ThoughtWorks and various startups.
Dave gets excited about digital product strategy and lean operational process transformation to deliver sustainable profits
and growth. When away from a laptop he is a keen mountain biker who enjoys camping with his family all over the UK
wilderness.

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• About 280 Group
• Connecting to Analytics to Strategies
– Reasons for failure
– What should we measure?
– Connecting strategy to metrics
• Q&A
Agenda
What itmeans tobe Lean froma PM perspective

6. Agenda
About 280 Group
Connecting Analytics to
Strategy
Q & A

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Why Are We 280 Group?
About Us

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We help companies and
individuals do GREAT Product
Management and Product
Marketing using our Optimal
Product Process™ framework.
Mission
About Us

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Free Resources and Optimal Product Process Book
www.280group.com/signup

10. Agenda
About 280 Group
Connecting Analytics to
Strategy
Q & A

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Subjective
Decisions
Fact Based
Decisions
Importance of Product Analytics

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Strategy Outcome Analytics
Analytics Must be Guided by Strategy

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But I’m Agile
Agile and Lean amplify product strategy.
They do not replace it.

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• No well communicated strategy
• Too many objectives, no clear priority
• Collecting as much data as possible
• Too focused on the cool, not the effective
• Not adjusting your analytics as your product
evolves
• Too busy responding to data requests
Reasons PMs Fail to Connect Analytics to Strategy

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Which of theses reasons is the top challenge for you?
• No well communicated strategy
• Too many objectives, no clear priority
• Collecting as much data as possible
• Too focused on the cool, not the effective
• Not adjusting your analytics as your product evolves
• Too busy responding to data requests
Poll

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So What Should We Measure?

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• If it's easy to measure, we should measure it
• Strong Disagree – 1
• Disagree – 2
• Neutral – 3
• Agree – 4
• Strongly Agree - 5
Poll Question

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• If it's difficult to measure, we should avoid
measuring it
• Strong Disagree – 1
• Disagree – 2
• Neutral – 3
• Agree – 4
• Strongly Agree - 5
Poll Question

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• We should measure everything.
• Strong Disagree – 1
• Disagree – 2
• Neutral – 3
• Agree – 4
• Strongly Agree - 5
Poll Question

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• If we don't know how to measure it, it's not
important
• Strong Disagree – 1
• Disagree – 2
• Neutral – 3
• Agree – 4
• Strongly Agree - 5
Poll Question

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• The first step is to measure whatever can be easily measured.
This is OK as far as it goes.
• The second step is to disregard that which can't be easily
measured or to give it an arbitrary quantitative value. This is
artificial and misleading.
• The third step is to presume that what can't be measured
easily really isn't important. This is blindness.
• The fourth step is to say that what can't be easily measured
really doesn't exist. This is suicide.
Daniel Yankelovich "Corporate Priorities: A continuing study of the new demands on business."
(1972)
McNamara Fallacy

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• Anything can be measured
• If we care about something, then we must have
some way to measure it
“How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangible in Business” (Douglas Hubbard)
But I Can’t Measure It?

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• If an executive asks us to measure a metric, we
should just measure it
• Strong Disagree – 1
• Disagree – 2
• Neutral – 3
• Agree – 4
• Strongly Agree - 5
Poll Question

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A decision:
• Has two or more alternatives
• Has uncertainty
• Potentially negative consequences with wrong
decision
Data helps reduce the uncertainty of a decision
“How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangible in Business” (Douglas Hubbard)
Analytics Must Support a Business Decision

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• If can’t measure 100% of activity, it’s not useful.
• Strong Disagree – 1
• Disagree – 2
• Neutral – 3
• Agree – 4
• Strongly Agree - 5
Poll Question

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“It is better to be approximately right than
precisely wrong.”
Warren Buffett

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Strategy
Objectives
KPIs
Targets
Align Analytics to Strategy

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• What
happenedLagging
• Indicators of
progressLeading
Lagging v. Leading Indictors
Objectives
KPIs

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Define business outcome Examples
• Revenue or profit
• Improve retention
• Customer conversion
• Increase usage
• Reduce support volume
• Neutralize a competitor
• Validate a market need
Define Objectives for Team and Time Period
• Measurement
• Target
• Timeframe

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• Growth: Gaining new users
• Engagement/Transactions: Increasing usage of the app
• Retention: Ensuring that existing users come back
• Monetization: Converting app usage to money
https://medium.com/product-breakdown/product-management-analytics-what-metrics-should-you-be-
measuring-241609b1950d
There are Four Big “Buckets” of Product Metrics

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• Make our product easier to use
• Create more user engagement
• Improve the user experience
• Increase security
• Product more flexible
• Increases customer satisfaction
• Improve product quality
Ambiguous Objectives/KPIs Examples

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What do you mean by that?
Addressing Ambiguity

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• Get clear on what decision is being made
• Identify key events/interactions (customer
journeys) & the metrics to support that decision
• Determine the value of the metrics in supporting
the decision
• Implement the most valuable metrics
– Which are more valuable then the cost to measure
• Measure and make a decision
Steps to Determine Which Metrics

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• Clearly define what the measurement means to
you
• What are the contributing factors to this outcome
that I can measure
– Decompose to get to measurable metrics
• Fermi Decomposition
I Still Can’t Measure It?

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• What inferences can be made from other
observations
• Quick estimates while not perfect are
surprisingly accurate
• Helps better define uncertain components
• A decomposition of up to five variables reduced
error by 10 to 100 times (Armstrong/MacGregor)
• Example
– How many barbers are there in Houston?
Fermi Decomposition

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• Online site for amusement park
• Terrible UX, gave up on trying to make online
purchase
• Why didn’t they have a better UX?
• What analytics do they need to know if and what
they need to improve?
Case Study

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• Vanity Metrics - make you feel good, but don't
help make decisions
• Metrics are important quantitative indicators,
– But understand the story behind the metrics
(qualitative)
• Don’t forget your 4 Ps
Cautions

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• Aligning to strategy ensures you choose the
right data.
• Make sure you are focused on the right priorities
• If you can measure it, you can't fix it, or improve
on it
Wrap-Up

39. Agenda
About 280 Group
Connecting Analytics to
Strategy
Q & A

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Don't Miss the Next Session!
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www.businessinnovationbrief.com/webinar-series/building-better-products

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Q&A
Tom Evans Dave Martin
With: Moderated by:
Senior Principal Consultant & Trainer, 280 Group
Linkedin page: LorumIpsum/
Twitter ID: @LorumIpsum
Email: LorumIpsum@ipsum.com
Website: LorumIpsum.com
Chief Product Officer, Tes.
Linkedin page: linkedin.com/in/mrdavemartin/
Twitter ID: @mobile_dave
Email: dave@tes.com
Website: www.productwarrior.com

42. 42
Don't Miss the Next Session!
www.projectmanagementupdate.com/webinar-series/building-better-products
www.productmanagementtoday.com/webinar-series/building-better-products
www.businessinnovationbrief.com/webinar-series/building-better-products