Aglet

Turn Baseline Findings Into Better Product Decisions

Baseline work teaches the team what it means by cost and improvement. Preserve the original concern, measured path, proxy limits, and decision that the number informed. Then update planning so future baselines begin with a clear outcome and a stable measurement unit.

Keep the lesson for the next incident

  1. Save the baseline story

    Keep the unit definition, sample, source, confound, result, exception, and decision together. Include a case where the measured cost fell but the user outcome did not improve. That contrast prevents a proxy from becoming the product goal.

  2. Improve measurement planning

    Add outcome linkage, context, missingness, and before-and-after definitions to the baseline brief. Require a review of proxies with people who perform the task. Explain how the new practice addresses the ambiguity in the baseline.

  3. Set a proxy-drift signal

    Watch for a metric that improves while complaints, task failure, or workarounds persist, or for a definition that changes between periods. Assign an owner to review the next baseline and reopen the method when the signal appears.

What to carry forward

The learning record should connect the baseline unit and its limits to the changed measurement practice and proxy-drift signal. State what the team will measure next time. Keep the baseline revisable when the task or desired outcome changes.

Technical background: GOV.UK user research guidance.

Keep the decision with the work.

Use a Work Item in Aglet to record the problem, the evidence you have, and the next decision. Add an owner and priority, then keep updates in the discussion so the next person can follow the reasoning.

Create an account See the product workflow