Developing Experience-Focused KPIs

When we think about improving an online shopping experience, we often jump to new features or a better design. But behind the scenes, web performance—how fast and smoothly a site loads and responds—is one of the biggest drivers of user satisfaction and business impact. In a recent blog post, Walmart Global Tech’s Engineering team shared their journey to improve their site’s performance systematically, and the lessons are highly relevant for anyone building digital products today. Their journey began with choosing the right metrics. Instead of relying solely on backend or infrastructure-level indicators, they shifted toward Core Web Vitals, a set of user-centric metrics that reflect the real customer experience. These include how quickly content loads (Largest Contentful Paint), when the page becomes interactive (Interaction to Next Paint), and how stable the layout is during loading (Cumulative Layout Shift). By anchoring their efforts in these three metrics, the team ensured that any optimization directly improved what customers actually felt. From there, they focused on how to move these metrics across a massive user base meaningfully. The team set goals based on the 75th percentile, ensuring that improvements benefited most users and weren’t overly influenced by outliers. They also embedded web performance into company-wide decision-making: Core Web Vitals are integrated into Walmart’s experimentation platform, incorporated into the release review process, and included in leadership discussions. In other words, performance isn’t just an engineering KPI—Walmart turned it into a shared organizational priority. This work is a great reminder that improving performance isn’t just an engineering task; it’s about building a culture where user experience is measurable, visible, and owned by everyone. Their approach shows that when a company aligns around the right metrics and integrates them into everyday workflows, even small performance gains can compound into meaningful business results. #DataScience #Analytics #Metrics #CoreWebVitals #Optimization #WebPerformance #SnacksWeeklyonDataScience – – –  Check out the "Snacks Weekly on Data Science" podcast and subscribe, where I explain in more detail the concepts discussed in this and future posts:    -- Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gKgaMvbh   -- Apple Podcast: https://lnkd.in/gFYvfB8V    -- Youtube: https://lnkd.in/gcwPeBmR https://lnkd.in/gqsfix-p

If your site is slow, you’re leaving traffic and revenue on the table. Core Web Vitals are no longer optional. Google has made them a ranking factor, meaning publishers that ignore them risk losing visibility, traffic, and user trust. For those of us working in SEO and digital publishing, the message is clear: speed, stability, and responsiveness directly affect performance. Core Web Vitals focus on three measurable aspects of user experience: → Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How quickly the main content loads. Target: under 2.5 seconds. → First Input Delay (FID) / Interaction to Next Paint (INP): How quickly the page responds when a user interacts. Target: under 200 milliseconds. → Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): How visually stable a page is. Target: less than 0.1. These metrics are designed to capture the “real” experience of a visitor, not just what a developer or SEO sees on their end. Why publishers can't ignore CWV in 2025 1. SEO & Trust: Only ~47% of sites pass CWV assessments, presenting a competitive edge for publishers who optimize now. 2. Page performance pays off: A 1-second improvement can boost conversions by ~7% and reduce bounce rates—benefits seen across industries 3. User expectations have tightened: In 2025, anything slower than 3 seconds feels “slow” to most users—under 1 s is becoming the new gold standard, especially on mobile devices. 4. Real-world wins: a. Economic Times cut LCP by 80%, CLS by 250%, and slashed bounce rates by 43%. b. Agrofy improved LCP by 70%, and load abandonment fell from 3.8% to 0.9%. c. Yahoo! JAPAN saw session durations rise 13% and bounce rates drop after CLS fixes. Practical steps for improvement • Measure regularly: Use lab and field data to monitor Core Web Vitals across templates and devices. • Prioritize technical quick wins: Image compression, proper caching, and removing render-blocking scripts can deliver immediate improvements. • Stabilize layouts: Define media dimensions and manage ad slots to reduce layout shifts. • Invest in long-term fixes: Optimizing server response times and modernizing templates can help sustain improvements. Here are the key takeaways ✅ Core Web Vitals are measurable, actionable, and tied directly to SEO performance. ✅ Faster, more stable sites not only rank better but also improve engagement, ad revenue, and subscriptions. ✅ Publishers that treat Core Web Vitals as ongoing maintenance, not one-time fixes will see compounding benefits over time. Have you optimized your site for Core Web Vitals? Share your results and tips in the comments, your insights may help other publishers make meaningful improvements. #SEO #DigitalPublishing #CoreWebVitals #PageSpeed #UserExperience #SearchRanking

𝐃𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 (𝐃𝐄𝐌) = 𝐞𝐧𝐝-𝐭𝐨-𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 → 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 → 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 → 𝐚𝐩𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭. It tells you if it's the laptop, Wi-Fi, ISP, security fabric, or the app. It blends real-user data + synthetics to turn complaints into ticket-ready evidence. Result: time-to-isolate ↓, time-to-fix ↓, finger-pointing ↓. 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐨 𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐌 (𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐚 𝐒𝐀𝐒𝐄): 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔: Digital Experience Management native to Prisma Access/SD-WAN/GlobalProtect. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒔: Uses Prisma fabric + GlobalProtect and SD-WAN devices for endpoint/site telemetry...no extra agent if you’re already on PANW. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕: Hop-by-hop visibility (device → Wi-Fi/LAN → ISP → Prisma PoP → app), real-user + synthetic tests, and playbooks that tie findings back to Prisma policy. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔: One-stack customers who want DEM, security, and SD-WAN in the same console and data model. 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉-𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔: Best fit when you’re already standardized on Prisma; value drops if your SASE isn't Palo Alto. 𝐙𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐙𝐃𝐗 (𝐙𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞): 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔: Cloud DEM attached to Zscaler's inline platform. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒔: Zscaler Client Connector on endpoints + Exchange vantage points to trace internet path and SaaS performance. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕: Unified device health, network path, and app telemetry with quick isolation (device vs network vs Zscaler vs app) and AI-assisted RCA. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔: Large remote/hybrid populations, lots of SaaS, frequent "is it the ISP or the app?" escalations. 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉-𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔: Designed to pair with ZIA/ZPA; outside that ecosystem you lose some depth and workflow tightness. 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐬𝐤𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐃𝐄𝐌 (𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐬𝐤𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐞): 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔: DEM that blends real-user monitoring with Enterprise Stations (site synthetics) across Netskope's SSE fabric. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒔: Netskope client for endpoints + site sensors + POP insights for a full user/branch view. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕: Device/Wi-Fi/SD-WAN/SSE/app visibility, synthetic checks for key SaaS, and context from inline DLP/CASB/ZTNA to explain "why" performance changed. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔: Data-centric SSE programs that need both branch and endpoint monitoring in one pane, plus DLP/ZTNA context. 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉-𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔: Deepest value when Netskope is your primary SSE; advanced SOC ties rely on your broader tool integrations. 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲: Pick the DEM that lives where your traffic actually flows. If your control plane is Prisma then ADEM. If your users live on Zscaler then ZDX. If your SSE/data stack is Netskope then DEM. ♻️ Share with leaders still contemplating DEM options. 🔔 DM Nick Qureshi about SASE, GTM, Product Marketing, AI and Zero Trust insights that cut through the noise. #ADEM #DEM #ZDX

𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙎𝙇𝘼. They care whether they can do their job. For years, IT organizations have measured success through metrics like: • Response time • Resolution time • Uptime • Compliance Those metrics matter. But they don't tell the whole story. I've seen organizations hit every SLA target while employees remained frustrated, productivity suffered, and business leaders questioned the value IT was delivering. That's why leading organizations are shifting from SLAs to XLAs. Not because SLAs are broken. Because experience matters. The transition starts by measuring what users actually feel: ✓ Device performance ✓ Application responsiveness ✓ Time to productivity ✓ Employee sentiment ✓ Support experience Then something interesting happens. You can begin connecting IT performance directly to business outcomes: Better Experience → Higher Productivity Higher Productivity → Better Business Outcomes Better Business Outcomes → Executive Buy-In The goal isn't replacing SLAs. The goal is creating visibility into the outcomes those SLAs are supposed to support. A 99.9% available application isn't successful if employees still struggle to get work done. A ticket closed within SLA isn't successful if the user leaves frustrated. The future of ITSM isn't about measuring activity. It's about measuring impact. Start small. Pick one critical service. Add one experience metric. Track it for 90 days. Then compare the business outcome. You may discover the metrics you've been reporting aren't the metrics leadership actually cares about. The organizations that win won't have the most dashboards. They'll have the clearest connection between technology performance and business value. What experience metric would provide the most insight into your organization's IT performance today? #ITSM #ITIL #XLA #DEX #EmployeeExperience #DigitalTransformation #ServiceManagement #CIO #ITLeadership #OperationalExcellence #TechnologyLeadership #BusinessValue

Digital experience in APAC has entered a new era. If you're still thinking conversion happens after the click... you're already behind. 🤳 Insightful session at yesterdays #BeatTheBenchmarks 2025 | Asia-Pacific Edition with Niya Noneva (Contentsquare) and Ghandi Nader (Amazon Web Services (AWS), as we we explored why the digital customer journey is being rewritten — and what top-performing brands are doing to win hearts, clicks, and conversions in 2025. 📱 🖱️ 💻 📊 Benchmarks you can trust: Drawn from 90 billion sessions, 389 billion page views, and insights from 6,000 global websites — including top APAC brands — the 2025 Digital Experience Benchmark Report shows: 💸 Cost per visit is up +9% 🔻 Organic & direct traffic dropped -5.7% 🔺 Paid traffic = 39% of all traffic, up from 37% 📉 Conversion rates down -6.1%, especially for paid social 🔥 Frustration = -6% fewer page views 🔁 Retention is up +1.9% for sites with -17% fewer rage clicks 💡 What Leading APAC Brands Are Doing: 👗 Cotton On Group spotted underperforming nav paths generating just $0 and $389 per session. 🔁 After shifting key items to “Tops,” revenue soared to $4,001 and $1,560 per session — a 10x+ uplift. 📊 A simple UX tweak based on behavior drove massive ROI. 👉 Small changes. Big payoff. 🎮 Razer Inc. Gold Analysed how users interacted with search to improve content visibility and relevance. 🔍 They redesigned the “Just For You” section based on real search behavior — surfacing offers users actually wanted. 📈 The result? A +375% increase in CTR and a 43% conversion rate on first search — meaning almost 1 in 2 users made a purchase right after searching. 👉 Intent-driven personalisation + intuitive UX = serious conversion power. 🛍️ Blibli.com Redesigned its campaign layout to guide users more effectively through tiered promotional offers. 📊 Exposure rates skyrocketed — one tier jumped from 5.03% → 16.6%, another from 4.79% → 19.2%. 🧠 Smarter layout led to 3x–4x more visibility of deeper campaign content. 👉 A better experience boosted session depth — proving good design drives performance. 🎁 Virgin Atlantic Experience Days Built a gift-finder quiz tested on 100K users: • 99.7% completion rate • 8.5% conversion 👉 Interactive journeys keep users engaged — and buying 📌 So if you’re ready to beat the benchmark, here’s where to start: ✅ Fight friction — rage clicks kill returns ✅ Tailor content from first touch to deep session ✅ Optimise paid traffic journeys (they cost more — make them count) ✅ Use experience analytics + VoC to spot issues before they impact retention ✅ Treat your first visit like your only chance ✅ Retention starts before visitors leave your site 💰 Remember: just small +1% increases in conversion rates can generate >$100K in additional revenue for businesses. Full Report 👉 https://lnkd.in/gtYU3GBJ #DigitalExperience #UXDesign #CX Damon Etherington Dave Anderson

Your churned customers will show 5 warning signs months before leaving. While writing latest book, Behind The Click, I analyzed 15+ years of optimization efforts at The Good for Fortune 500 brands like Adobe, Nike, and The Economist. It pointed to one key theme: → Most companies look at conversion rates and revenue *after* the damage is done. But digital experience issues often show warning signs long before customers leave. Here are the 5 key metrics that signal customer dissatisfaction: 1. Path Efficiency Issues When customers take longer paths to complete basic tasks, it increases cognitive load and frustration. Don't make customers hunt through your navigation to find basic product information. 2. Search Behavior Changes Large volumes of search queries for basic information indicate a broken digital journey. Easy wins are often found in your on-site search data. 3. Mobile Experience Friction Only 34% of US customers prefer shopping on mobile. But 62% are less likely to purchase again after a negative mobile experience. So, focus your mobile experience around product research tasks, knowing they'll likely convert later on desktop. 4. Cart Abandonment Patterns 17% of visitors abandon due to lack of trust. Trust signals also impact retention. Security badges are too often used as a bandaid for trust issues. Research and fix the underlying issues. 5. Customer Service Escalations Digital experience issues create support burden. Is your customer service flooded with questions your site isn't answering? Surface those questions, then provide the answers in your site content. 🪄 Boom! More conversions, less support overhead killing your margins. The most successful enterprise brands don't wait for churn. They proactively optimize their digital experience using customer behavior data and research-backed improvements. Don't let your customers slip away.

Are you able to demonstrate the effectiveness of your digital patient experiences? Make data-based decisions that empower patients? Prove the ROI of your digital investments? If you’re relying on traditional frameworks like the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the Net Promoter Score (NPS), the answer is likely “no.” While helpful, these frameworks were not designed for healthcare, failing to address unique patient needs. We set out to bridge this critical gap by creating the Patient Experience (PX) Scale. (published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health under its former name: the Digital Experience Scale for Patients [DES/P]). Backed by 15 studies involving hundreds of patients across six therapy areas, the PX Scale is the first open-access framework built on real insights directly from the patients – uncovering the core principles of their digital expectations. The PX Scale provides: • Accurate measurement of patient-centricity • Pinpointing of “problematic” areas in the digital patient experience • Evaluation of the effectiveness of your digital channels • A strong business case for digital improvements • Proof of ROI and the value of your investment Most importantly, the PX Scale centers on the only voice that truly matters: the patient’s. Now, the PX Scale is available to anyone dedicated to putting patients first. I’ll be breaking down its 3 key components over the next couple of weeks: 1. Confidence 2. Simplicity 3. Impact Can’t wait? Download your Patient Experience Scale [PXs] toolkit here: https://lnkd.in/gVd7Vd-z

A Website Redesign often aims to Improve User Experience, Strengthen Engagement, and Support Long-Term Growth. But without accurate measurement, it becomes difficult to confirm whether the new site performs better than the old one or simply looks better. GA4 provides a dependable framework for evaluating redesign ROI, but only when comparisons are structured and event tracking is aligned with the new environment. The key is establishing clear before-and-after baselines that reflect how well users navigate, engage, and complete meaningful actions. When these baselines are consistent, redesign performance becomes measurable rather than subjective. Here’s the approach I use to measure redesign ROI inside GA4: 1- Define Pre-Redesign Baselines: Before any changes go live, I document conversion rates, event-quality ratios, load performance indicators, and the top user paths on the current site. These baselines become the reference point for evaluating improvement. When the foundation is stable, performance changes are much easier to interpret. 2- Align Tracking With Updated Page Structures: A redesign often introduces new layouts, URLs, and user interactions. I review and update all events, parameters, and conversions to ensure the new experience is tracked accurately. This avoids gaps and ensures that comparisons between the old and new versions remain reliable. 3- Evaluate ROI With Outcome-Focused Indicators: I look at conversion lift, form-completion efficiency, engagement consistency, and revenue-impacting actions. GA4’s pathing and funnel tools reveal whether users complete key steps with fewer clicks and less friction. ● When redesigns are measured with clear baselines and aligned tracking, ROI becomes transparent. ● Leaders gain confidence in how the new site contributes to performance and where further optimization can unlock additional value. ↷ I’m Neil Shapiro, Founder of Zen Digital Analytics. ↷ I Help Agency Founders and Marketing Directors evaluate redesign performance with GA4 frameworks that deliver measurable ROI clarity. ➡️ Do you currently measure redesign impact with before and after baselines? A) Yes B) Planning to C) Not yet