ben is on the inter.net

Telemetry Data

Telemetry is the process of gathering data from a remote location. It’s used everywhere from vending machines to websites to agriculture. In the case of most software, this would usually be anonymous data sent back to the software company. Websites monitor their traffic, search terms, referring sites, most viewed pages, most downloaded files, web browsers used, you name it. Video games are starting to monitor the success of their advertising and track data similar to that of most web sites: things like system specs, user paths through the game, most commonly played modes, and the users’ failed attempts to accomplish goals (”85% of our users do not successfully get into Online Target Practice mode; next year we should redesign that critical path or just outright cut the mode”).

This is the most accurate way of verifying your users’ behavior because you’re actually monitoring it. Think of it as profiling user activity for a better way to optimize it. The biggest problem with Telemetry Data is that you cannot ask users what they want before you ship, you have to ship and then see if you can improve your product for a 2.0 release. Also, apparently users hate the concept of telemetry; they feel like they’re being spied on. Odd, considering one of amazon’s greatest successes is their personalization of the site’s suggestions based on your use patterns… Personally I’d love to know that my Use Cases were considered when Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo look through user stats in their online marketplaces, or when Blizzard decides what to fix in the next World of Warcraft patch.

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