Earlier this year I wrote a post, How to Hire a User Experience Designer, that emphasized the importance of value metrics over behavior metrics. That is, that a novice UX designer focuses on simply changing behaviors, such as conversion rates, instead of focusing on creating value, such as increasing revenue. A more advanced UX designer will recognize that increasing the conversion rates, ceteris paribus, is only one way of, say, increasing revenue.
This week we found an example in traditional advertising where behavior metrics and value metrics came apart. Ace Metrix came out with a report on the effectiveness of tablet TV ads and Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix, noted “that each of the tablet ads in our Top 10, which also included Blackberry and HP, did very well, and scored above the norm.”1 In fact, two of HP’s spots scored in the top 10 most effective ads.
If behavior metrics are correlated with value, then HP must be in a great position, but it’s not according to other news out this week. According to the New York Times, the only way HP was able to move units was by decreasing the selling price by 80%2. Here’s how the New York Times put it:
“Hewlett-Packard finally found a way to get shoppers to buy its TouchPad tablet — a steep discount — but not until after it had pulled the plug on the device because of poor sales.”2
Just a friendly reminder that behavior metrics and value metrics aren’t always correlated. Of course, it’s sometimes easier for those of us in digital advertising where we can track user behavior better in the purchase funnel, but it’s an important lesson nonetheless. If you’re only focusing on behavior metrics you might have to “pull the plug” when they don’t translate to value.
1. “Samsung Produces Single Most Effective Tablet Ad This Year, According to Ace Metrix.” Ace Metrix. 18 August 2011. Online.
2. “The TouchPad Finally Sells — At 80% Off.” New York Times. 21 August 2011. Online.