Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Critical measures of progress toward an end goal

Why it matters

A KPI is a goal made falsifiable — but a metric becomes a target the moment it is watched, and targets get gamed. Pair every success KPI with a counter-metric that catches the gaming.

The numbers

Goodhart’s law — a measure that becomes a target stops measuring
Always pair with a counter-metric

Related terms

Design Sprint

Go deeper in Learn UX

Key Frameworks UX Design Frameworks

Ask your assistant

Define "Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)" using uxspot.

Works in Claude, Cursor or any MCP client — connect the uxspot MCP.

Think it stuck? A 20-second round of Spot Check will tell you.