Measurement and metrics are lightning rods for discussion and argument in software development. One of the epithets used to disparage measures and metrics is the term ‘vanity metric’. Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, is often credited with coining the term ‘vanity metric’ to describe metrics that make people feel good, but are less useful for making decisions about the business. For example, I could measure Twitter followers or I could measure the number of blog reads or podcast listens that come from Twitter. The count of raw Twitter followers is a classic vanity metric.
In order to shortcut the discussion (and reduce the potential vitriol) of whether a measure or metric can be classified as actionable or vanity I ask four questions: (more…)
Software Process and Measurement 