Customer research evidence metrics

Purpose

Use these two measures together to answer: Is the customer evidence behind active decisions current and sufficiently representative of the priority research space? Fresh evidence can still cover the wrong segments or jobs. Broad coverage can still be obsolete after a market, product, policy, or behavior change.

Application

Use the pair for decisions whose evidence is organized into identifiable records and a planned coverage grid. The grid can combine priority segments, customer jobs, journey stages, markets, accessibility needs, or capabilities. Keep it small enough to reflect actual decision priorities.

What it is

• Insight freshness tests whether evidence used by active decisions was reviewed within its assigned freshness threshold.
• Research coverage rate tests how many planned cells in the evidence grid meet the agreed minimum evidence standard.

The thresholds should vary by volatility and consequence. Stable contextual knowledge may remain useful for longer than evidence about a recently changed workflow or market.

Definition and components

Insight freshness

Use this as the calculation definition: Active evidence records within freshness threshold divided by Active evidence records. Unit: Percentage. Interpretation: Shows the share of evidence supporting active decisions that has been reviewed within its risk-appropriate cadence.

Research coverage rate

Use this as the calculation definition: Covered target cells divided by Planned segment-job-capability cells. Unit: Percentage. Interpretation: Shows the share of priority research cells meeting the minimum evidence standard for recency, quantity, and relevance.