Instrumentation before optimization
Why tightening event definitions saves weeks of false A/B conclusions on service platforms.
Optimization without clean events produces confident wrong answers. A button labeled “Continue” that fires both “step_complete” and “form_submit” will inflate completion and hide true friction.
Inventory every key action against a named business outcome. Deduplicate. Name events in plain language your operations lead can audit. Only then introduce experiments on order, copy, or required fields.
Teams that reverse this order often “win” a test while support volume rises—because the metric never measured fulfillment quality. Spend the first days on definitions; the optimization cycle will move faster afterward.