Measuring Performance and Identifying Bottlenecks
Effective problem-solving starts by clearly defining the problem that needs to be solved. Sometimes, this is less than obvious, or sometimes, there’s more than one problem that appears to be front and center. Oftentimes, the thing that makes defining a problem difficult is that it is presented as a qualitative statement, like this one: “The Route Planning Screen doesn’t perform well.”
A statement such as that one is unambiguIus in one sense – there’s no doubt as to its meaning – but it is completely opaque in another, for we have no understanding to what degree the performance is poor. That’s the basic difference between having qualitative data and having specific, qualitative measures. Without the former, there’s no understanding of the overall picture, and without the latter, there’s no way to know whether any actions have been resolved, mitigated, or even made...
