KPI (key performance indicator)
The handful of metrics chosen to represent whether the work is working - chosen being the operative word. A good KPI is causally close to the outcome, hard to game, and few in number; a dashboard of forty KPIs is a list of numbers, not a definition of success.
Where it's used
Used in dashboards, goals and briefs. Good when each one has an owner and would change a decision if it moved.
Example
A subscription app's three
Illustrative scenarioNew paying subscribers, 90-day retention and share of search. The first shows acquisition, the second shows product value and the third gives an early read of the brand. Follower count and impressions stay in the channel report, where they are useful. If a number could double without the business improving, it is not a KPI.
