Pitfall/Bias

Description & Example

Best Practice

Hawthorne Effect

Measurement changes behavior (e.g., output focus)

Align metrics with desired outcomes

Vanity Metric

Impressive but not actionable (e.g., pageviews)

Use decision-driving metrics

Demoralization

Unachievable goals lower morale

Set realistic, motivating targets

Misusing Metrics

Focusing on wrong/easy metrics

Prioritize meaningful, strategic measures

Confirmation Bias

Seeing what you expect in the data

Encourage objective, critical analysis

Correlation vs. Causation

Mistaking relationship for causality

Investigate root causes, not just patterns