Measure the Impact
What is measuring the impact?
Measuring the impact means assessing whether the outputs you created—programs, features, or solutions—actually achieved your desired outcome. Rather than simply shipping something and assuming you made progress, you need to evaluate whether those outputs had the intended effect on your outcome. This ensures teams aren't done when they ship; they're done when they accomplish their outcome.
Many teams assign work, set goals, and ship features thinking they've made progress. But producing outputs alone is not enough. If you don't measure the impact of those outputs on your desired outcome, you're simply assuming that you made progress. You haven't verified that you actually moved the needle.
When do teams measure impact?
Teams measure impact after releasing something to evaluate whether it met expectations. This is distinct from assumption testing, which happens during discovery when deciding what to build.
During discovery, teams use assumption tests to evaluate ideas quickly and decide which to pursue. After building and shipping, teams use experiments—like A/B tests—to measure the impact of what they built. This tells them whether their solution actually drove progress toward their desired outcome or whether they need to iterate.
Why does measuring impact matter?
Measuring impact is what allows teams to know if they've truly accomplished their desired outcome. Without measurement, you might run programs that nobody uses, implement features that customers ignore, or invest heavily in solutions that don't move your key metrics.
When you measure impact, you get clear feedback: Did this work? If not, what should we try next? This feedback loop ensures teams stay focused on outcomes rather than just shipping outputs.
Learn more:
- Shifting from Outputs to Outcomes: Why It Matters and How to Get Started
- Assumption Testing: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started
Related terms:
- Outcome
- Output
- Outcomes Over Outputs
- Assumption Testing
- Experiments
Last Updated: October 25, 2025