Metric Definition Document
By snoozeButtonKing · Published · Updated
So that two teams asking the same question get the same number.
Tags: Data, Reporting, Communication
Prompt template
## Defining this metric properly - Metric name: [text: What people call it] - What it is meant to measure: [textarea: The business question underneath] - How it is calculated now: [textarea: If at all, and if anyone agrees] - Sources: [textarea: Which systems and tables] - Where the numbers disagree: [textarea: Which teams get different answers and by how much] - Who uses it and for what: [textarea: The decisions it drives] Write the definition: exact calculation, what is included and excluded, the time grain, and the source of truth. Spend most of the effort on the edge cases that cause the disagreements. Refunds, test accounts, timezones, soft-deleted records, late-arriving data. That is where the differences actually come from. State what the metric does not measure, since misuse causes more damage than miscalculation. Add a worked example and name who owns changes to this definition.