Performance analyst

Performance analysts determine how well a service is working using various metrics and data to help the team understand and improve its performance.

Performance analysts focus on what users do at scale, collecting and presenting key performance data and analysis for the service. They work with the team and other stakeholders to ensure that the service meets the performance requirements outlined in the Service Standard.

They also help the team understand user needs by providing quantitative and qualitative evidence from web analytics, management information and user feedback.

What does a performance analyst do?

Performance analysts collect, monitor and explain data about how services are used. They use this data to help teams make better decisions. For example, they might track how many people start and complete a form, or where they encounter a barrier in the user journey.

They work with tools like Google Analytics, BigQuery, dashboards, and performance frameworks. They help define key performance indicators (KPIs), which are the numbers that show whether a service is working well, such as page load time, error messages, link clicks, and task completion.

Performance analysts also help design performance frameworks with product managers and researchers, which are then used to assess the performance of the service using agreed criteria and metrics.

Working with a performance analyst as a user researcher

Performance analysts work with numbers, data and analytics, so user researchers are able to bring the human context to the numbers. Together, you combine numbers and stories to give the team a comprehensive picture of who your users are and what they need.

When you are planning research, find out what data already exists and use it to identify any gaps or things that you may need to focus on in research. During research, share your findings, and work with the performance analyst to determine whether what your users are encountering is happening at scale or if it is an isolated issue. When making changes to a service, agree on how you’ll track whether it worked, through additional research as well as performance metrics.

User researchers can take advantage of performance analytics by leveraging the scale. It can be very difficult to conduct large-scale research, so you can use the data from performance analysts to enhance your own findings. At the same time, you can provide crucial context to the data that might not be apparent just from the numbers.

Performance analysts contribute data and trends at scale while user researchers put things in the wider context of the users and their experiences with the service. Together, you give the team strong evidence that leads to better decisions.