Unit 5: Evaluation and Measuring Change

The outcome metric is Data variable from the behavioral statement , your singular definition of success. Like the Highlander, there can be only one and this is really important, because the moment you have more than one way of measuring the outcome, then people will start arguing about how to trade them off. Just one!

You can (and should) have many process metrics, which are all of the measurements we take that surrounding a pilot. For example, at the same time we are measuring a specific outcome behavior, we might give participants a survey that asked them about mood, perceptions of the intervention, whether they would be interested in participating again, etc.

The reason process metrics are so important is that they help us fail forward. If a pilot doesn’t work, process metrics help us know whether we should simply try it again with some tweaks or go all the way back to the drawing board. Maybe people didn’t perceive the pilot the way we intended or there were unintended side effects; process metrics will tell you!