Observability as a Product: Measuring What Matters
Observability is often viewed as a toolkit of dashboards and alerts. If we treat it as a product, we focus on outcomes, users, and measurable improvements. Teams can discuss what matters, not just what is comfortable to monitor. The goal is to turn telemetry into feedback that drives better product decisions.
Measuring what matters means choosing signals that connect to user value and business results. Consider these axes:
- Availability and performance
- Latency, error rate, and saturation
- Time to value for new features
- Adoption and usage patterns
- Incident duration and MTTR
- Customer impact and support feedback
How to design observability as a product:
- Start with product goals and map them to SLIs and SLOs
- Focus on 3–5 critical user journeys
- Instrument code and infrastructure with consistent naming
- Build dashboards for product teams and a separate view for executives
- Establish an alerting policy that flags risk, not every blip
- Maintain a short, revisitable metric backlog
Example scenario: For a checkout flow, track p99 checkout latency, error rate, and time-to-first-value. If latency drops and the checkout conversion improves, you can tie telemetry to revenue impact. Share insights with product managers to drive feature work and with support to reduce escalation.
Observability as a product invites teams to own data and act on it. Start small, ship with intention, and iterate.
Key Takeaways
- Treat observability as a product with clear outcomes and owners
- Align telemetry with user value and business goals
- Start small, measure impact, and iterate