Metrics that Matter: Improving Product Outcomes
Course overview
About this course
Make smarter decisions with the right metrics. This online course helps you move beyond tracking activity to measuring real value. You’ll learn how to use practical, actionable metrics to highlight successes, improve forecasting, spot opportunities for improvement, and build better products. Lead more confidently when you understand the metrics behind your team's performance.
Average time to complete: 2 hours
Format: Self-paced, on-demand content
Credential: Microcredential digital badge
Prerequisites: None
What you'll get: About 2 hours of on-demand learning and a digital badge to showcase your new skills. If you are a new or lapsed Scrum Alliance member, you'll receive a two-year membership with this course.
Who's this course for?
If your team struggles with unrealistic forecasts, missed deadlines, or unclear priorities, metrics may be the missing piece. Metrics that Matter helps you align agile teams and stakeholders with metrics that focus on meaningful value, not simply outputs and activity.
This course is designed for anyone who wants to gain insights and deliver better products by leveraging metrics, including:
- Developers
- Testers
- Scrum masters
- Product owners
- Project managers
- Team leads
- Business analysts
- Project leaders
Learn to harness the power of metrics to support agile ways of working.
Course modules
In this module, you will explore the purpose and importance of metrics in agile environments. Through engaging content and practical exercises, you will learn how to interpret data, apply it to real-world scenarios, and measure success. This foundational knowledge will empower you to harness the power of metrics to support agile ways of working.
Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:
- Define metrics and determine their purpose in understanding and improving outcomes.
- Identify the key reasons behind agile metrics, including how they support agile principles and practices.
- Explain typical use cases for metrics and their impact on behavior and results in agile contexts.
In this module, you will discover the core principles that guide the effective use of metrics when working in an agile way. The primary learning objective in this module is to understand the key reasons behind using metrics in a way that supports agile principles and practices. We'll explore how a shift in mindset transforms metrics from tools of control to enablers of learning and continuous improvement.
Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:
- Classify given agile metrics according to their type along different dimensions: Team vs. organizational, Leading vs. lagging, and Activity/output/outcome/impact.
- Explain how to enrich quantitative agile metrics with qualitative indicators to gain deeper insights.
- Distinguish which agile metrics are used for analysis, monitoring, motivation, and prediction.
- Identify and justify the most appropriate set of agile metrics to track progress for a given team context, project goals, and desired outcomes.
In this module, you will focus on practical application, building on your understanding of principles behind using metrics in an agile context. You'll discover how to identify key metrics, explore their typical uses, and understand their impact on agile teams.
Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:
- Understand how to apply metrics in daily work and collaborative settings to improve individual and team processes.
- Explore how to effectively communicate metrics to diverse stakeholders by tailoring presentations and adhering to ethical data visualization practices.
- Translate metric data into actionable decisions by interpreting trends and identifying root causes.
- Reflect on past reporting practices to identify areas for improvement and foster continuous refinement of communication strategies.
In this final assessment, you’ll demonstrate your ability to interpret and apply key metrics in an agile context. Your responses will show how well you can connect the concepts from the course to practical, real-world situations, helping you reinforce your knowledge and prepare to use these skills confidently.
Unmatched quality and scale
"Simply amazing learning experience!"
"My experience at Scrum Alliance was simply exceptional ... "
Developed by community experts
Our community is at the heart of everything we do. This course wouldn't be possible without the subject matter experts who generously share their time and talent. Join us in recognizing these individuals for helping us inspire and empower our global agile community.
Is a microcredential worth it?
Microcredentials are a great way to continually add new skills with fast and flexible formats. Here are just a few reasons microcredential training is a worthwhile investment for you and your team.
- Focused expertise — gain specialized knowledge in a specific area
- Flexible learning — learn the way you prefer by choosing from live or on-demand learning formats
- Cost-effective — typically less expensive than certifications or degree programs
- Relevant — topics prioritized to cover industry trends and emerging technologies
- Expedient — earn a credential in hours as opposed to weeks, months, or years
- Recognizable — validated by Scrum Alliance, a globally recognized credentialing body
- Practical — build skills and knowledge immediately applicable in your role
- Stackable — combine microcredentials to build comprehensive learning pathways
Train your team!
Interested in purchasing this course for more than one person? We can help.
Output metrics measure activity, such as the number of stories completed. Outcome metrics measure impact, such as whether those stories moved the needle on business or user goals. This course helps you focus on outcomes that matter.
Outcome-based metrics focus on the impact of your work, such as customer satisfaction, business value delivered, or changes in user behavior. This course helps you identify and apply metrics that go beyond team activity to reflect meaningful results.
The most important agile metrics are those that help you understand whether your team is delivering real value. This course helps you identify which metrics matter most in your context.
If your team seems busy but still struggles with missed deadlines, slow delivery, or unclear priorities, you may be measuring activity instead of value. This course helps you shift your focus to metrics that drive meaningful outcomes.
No. You don’t need to be a member to purchase this course. But if you’re not a current member, your course purchase includes a free two-year Scrum Alliance membership.
Have additional questions?
Measure what really matters.
Use agile metrics to drive better outcomes and continuous improvement.