Codermetrics

Name

Losses

Synopsis

Purpose

Measure the number of active users lost.

Formula

Losses = Sum (User Deactivations)

Example

A new software release is issued at the end of June. The following user deactivations or cancellations are recorded for the three months following release:

Month of July: 18 deactivations or cancellations

Month of August: 13 deactivations or cancellations

Month of September: 24 deactivations or cancellations

The number of Losses for the software release can then be calculated as follows:

Losses in July = 18

Losses in August = 13

Losses in September = 24

Total Losses at end of August = (18 + 13) = 31

Total Losses at end of September = (18 + 13 + 24) = 55

You can also evaluate the Average number of Losses:

Average Losses per month at end of August = (18 + 13) / 2 = 15.5

Average Losses per month at end of September = (18 + 13 + 24) / 3 = 18.3

Notes

The Losses metric is the counterbalance to the Wins metric. The lower the number of Losses, of course, the better. As with Wins, there are a variety of ways you might calculate Losses. Also as with Wins, however, the most important point is that you should define a formula to track Losses. Just as software teams should have a fundamental measure of success, you should also have a fundamental measure of failure. My belief is that the most straightforward and meaningful way to do this is by counting users lost.

The Losses formula that I use here, therefore, focuses specifically on user deactivations. As discussed earlier, this can be determined ...