[FM Discuss] Stats for downloads

[Janet Swisher]

On Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 3:00 AM, adam hyde <adam at flossmanuals.net> wrote:
> On Mon, 2009-09-28 at 19:35 -0500, David Farning wrote:
>> On Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 5:03 PM, adam hyde <adam at flossmanuals.net> wrote:
>> > On Mon, 2009-09-28 at 16:55 -0500, David Farning wrote:
>> >
>> Having statistic is orthogonal to steering the ship.  Steering happens
>> at a mission, vision, and values level.  Stats provide information
>> about what we are doing operationally to achieve our mission, vision,
>> and values.
>
>
> I could not disagree more. Stats become the rule. I have worked in many
> media organisations, not just this one, and I know very well what roles
> stats play when linked to audiences.

To push the steering analogy a bit further, mission/vision/values
determine where you want to go, i.e., the direction you are heading.
Stats can provide feedback to help you stay on course, i.e., steer.
The stats you collect should be relevant to the kinds of adjustments
you want to make. For example, drivers who have real-time data on fuel
usage can better adjust their behavior to improve over-all fuel usage
than those who only get data at refueling time.

It's often said that "you cannot manage what you do not measure". The
flip side of this is "what gets measured is what gets managed".
Therefore, it is very important to pick metrics carefully, and to be
aware of the limitations of indirect metrics.

--Janet