Beyond Burndowns: Measuring What Matters

Agile teams often default to tracking velocity, burndown charts, and cycle times, but those metrics only tell part of the story. Measuring real impact—how work delivers value to users and the business—is just as important. Teams that focus only on delivery speed without considering user engagement, product success, or team sustainability risk optimizing for the wrong thing.
This session will explore how to balance delivery metrics with impact metrics, helping teams track both progress and value. We will cover traditional Agile charts like burndown and cumulative flow, but also dive into product-oriented measures like Pirate Metrics (AARRR), customer engagement, and other ways to understand if what you are building is actually making a difference.
Activity
Participants will review a mix of Agile delivery metrics and product impact metrics, discussing what they reveal and what they miss. In small groups, they will map out how their teams currently measure success and identify gaps in tracking real impact.
Key takeaways
Teams will leave with a better understanding of how to track progress without falling into the trap of vanity metrics. They will learn how to combine Agile progress tracking with impact-focused measures, ensuring they are building the right things—not just delivering quickly.
If you want to measure more than just velocity, this session will help you focus on what really matters