Why being data-informed beats being data-blinded.
When the Numbers Start Driving
There’s a quiet trap a lot of growth and product teams fall into — one I’ve stepped into myself: letting the numbers lead everything. Metrics start as a helpful guide, but before long, they’re setting the roadmap.
And don’t get me wrong — metrics matter. A lot. But they’re not the full picture.
Metrics show you what happened, not why it happened. And they definitely don’t tell you where to go next.
The Risk of Over-Optimising
I’ve seen it before — teams (including mine) focusing hard on the bottom of the funnel: improving conversion, nudging engagement, fine-tuning messages. And sure, we made gains. But we also missed the bigger picture. We weren’t looking at the full journey or understanding what users were really experiencing.
That’s the thing with metrics: you can hit every number on the dashboard and still miss what matters.
- You can increase conversion and still erode trust
- Boost engagement and still miss long-term value
- Hit your KPIs and still lose sight of your customer
What Metrics Miss
Metrics are brilliant at telling us where we’ve been. But they can’t always show us what’s next.
They don’t capture:
- Changing user expectations
- Moments of frustration or delight
- The emotional context behind decisions
- Future opportunities still in early signals
They’re great at reflection, not direction.
Data-Informed, Human-Driven
What’s worked for me is reframing the relationship.
I use quantitative data to find the signals — pain points, drop-offs, missed opportunities.
Then I bring in qualitative insight — user feedback, testing, interviews — to give that data some soul.
From there, I use creative judgment and intuition to decide what’s worth acting on now, and what’s worth planting for later.
That balance helps me avoid chasing short-term wins that don’t last — and keeps the work meaningful for the team and the user.
A Healthier Metrics Culture
If you’re in product, CX, or growth, here are a few things that help shift from data-blinded to data-informed:
- Ask “What’s the story behind this number?”
- Balance your dashboards with real conversations
- Don’t be afraid to act on intuition — especially when it aligns with mission
- Share learnings, not just results
- Look upstream — what’s causing the numbers to move?
None of this is about ignoring metrics. It’s about using them as part of a richer, more human toolkit.
Wrapping Up
Metrics help us focus. But people help us grow.
The best decisions happen when the two work together.
So if you’re in the weeds of dashboards, take a step back and ask: are we building toward the future — or just optimising the past?
