Video: Key Metrics: Comparing Three Letter Acronym Metrics That Include the Word “Key”

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Key Metrics: Comparing Three Letter Acronym Metrics That Include the Word “Key”

Wednesday, November 13, 2024 • DesignOps Community

Saara Kamppari-Miller

Inclusive DesignOps Program Manager, Intel

Nicole Bergstrom

Senior Director of Digital Accessibility, Hilton

Shashi Jain

Corporate Innovation Specialist

Summary

Why do so many metrics include the word “Key”? How do those metrics differ, and how do teams and organizations decide which key metric is best for them? Join this DesignOps community discussion to compare different types of three letter acronym metrics such as KPI, KEI, and KSP (Key Performance Indicator, Key Experience Indicator, and Key Strategic Priorities). And let's not forget OKR's (Objectives and Key Results)!

Key Insights

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Nicole differentiates enterprise-level Key Strategic Priorities (KSPs) from project-level Key Experience Indicators (KEIs), linking accessibility work directly to business strategy.
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Key Experience Indicators were coined to avoid confusion with engineering KPIs and focus on user-centered, experience quality metrics defined by the experience team.
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The 'canary' metaphor identifies early warning signals in user experience that predict potential product failure if not addressed.
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Hilton’s accessibility program tracks both quantifiable KPIs and non-tangible activities like aligned awareness events tied to business priorities to build executive buy-in.
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Shashi’s KPI Compass maps innovation metrics across a spectrum including early-stage thought leadership and late-stage business impact metrics, emphasizing behavior change as critical.
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Disruptive innovation happens when teams focus on leading impact metrics that predict customer behavioral change, rather than only lagging output measures like sales.
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Metrics should always be a conversation, especially in ambiguous or early-stage innovation contexts, rather than fixed, imposed measurements.
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Nicole highlights challenges in measuring accessibility due to privacy and legal constraints, requiring creative indirect metrics like accessible room booking engagement.
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Both presenters stress the word 'key' is to highlight the most critical priorities among many possible objectives, helping focus organizational efforts.
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Aligning metrics across teams and levels (enterprise to project) is vital to ensure work contributes to strategic priorities and to avoid wasted efforts.

Notable Quotes

"If we are working on something that does not ladder up to our KSPs, then we should not be working on it."

"The canary in the coal mine is the bird that miners would bring in; if the canary isn’t doing well, there’s imminent danger and everyone needs to get out."

"Adoption is the only thing that matters in innovation — if you’re not changing someone’s behavior, you may have invented something, but you have not innovated."

"Measurements are always a conversation; they should not be a covenant imposed on you, especially when you’re trying something new."

"Key Experience Indicators gave us rigor to bring into engineering conversations to make design less vague or fluffy."

"Our KSPs don’t change yearly because they’re fundamental to the core business; changing them often would be very disruptive."

"The word ‘key’ is an extra super duper important differentiator — among all priorities, these are the keys."

"When tactical metrics end up on the left side and KPIs on the right side of the compass, that signals we need a longer conversation about what we measure."

"If you can measure a thing doesn’t mean you should measure it."

"We had to be creative measuring accessibility success because we cannot detect screen reader use or certain disabilities directly."

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