There are so many articles written on creating actionable
metrics, key risk indicators, risk predictors and other forms of meaningful metrics that I decided to
take the opposite approach: Let’s look at meaningless
metrics, areas where we can and should pare down. We’ll draw some creative
license in comparing security metrics through the designs of an automobile.
·
Don’t
measure in irrelevant units: At what point in the advancement of the
automobile did we need to know the numeric level of the volume? IMHO, one should
just adjust the volume as determined by their hearing, not a visual cue.
·
Don’t
oversimplify important items: I miss the days of knowing my oil pressure
and alternator performance. It allowed me to know when things were about to break, allowing me to be
proactive in maintenance. In today’s world, we have these dummy lights to let us know the obvious – something has already
failed.
·
Don’t
assume users understand relationships between metrics: Thank goodness cars
still have the tachometer (it’s the big one left of the speedometer). And why
is that important? Because knowing what the minimum, maximum and most efficient
RPMs for a given speed – or gear for those who still favor a manual
transmission – helps the driver operate the automobile at its peak performance.
·
Don’t distract
users from their main responsibilities: I deplore techie-based user
interfaces where they’re not needed. Anything that requires the driver to look
away from the road and focus on an LCD screen is just dangerous, plain and
simple. There’s a reason that older cars had two knobs and 5 buttons for the
radio, and a slide lever for the heat and AC– so the driver could use their tactile
senses to control those features while remaining focused … on driving.
·
Stick to
the point: When an automobile has advanced so far that there are more
controls for non-driving than driving, something is wrong. In the end, a
vehicle is only meant to safely get a user from point A to point B; everything
else is meaningless.
To comprehend the performance of a vehicle is to understand
the engine, drive-train and safety features. To sell the allure of the vehicle is to assume the user already knows (or is
simply not interested in) the basics and instead deluge them in clever (but meaningless)
features.
What's your opinion?
