Learning patterns/Define program goals and measures of success

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Define program goals and measures of success

problemThe best programs focus on one or two realistic goals and have clear measures of success.

solutionLook at sample goals from similar programs, identify community priorities and decide what you can reasonably measure.

creator• KHarold (WMF)

created on01:50, 29 August 2015 (UTC)

status:DRAFT

What problem does this solve?

Sometimes describing program goals in grant proposals or annual plans can feel challenging, restrictive or even unneccessary. This learning pattern will give examples of the variety of results that programs typically have, and identify the different tools to track progress toward goals and measure success.

What is the solution?

Every program, project, or event will have different goals. Sometimes your main goal will be to increase participation. Another time, with the same program, you may want to increase content instead, and sometimes, both are very important. Choosing your measures of success always depends on what goals you are aiming for.

Measures for Evaluation is an on-wiki tool that shows how measures connect to goals. Then, it breaks measures down into inputs, outputs, and outcomes. The tools also has some suggestions for what tool to use to measure goals. However, for popular programs, below is a list of example goals and measures of success.

Contests

Writing contests

Sample Goals	Suggested Measures
Increase diversity of information coverage
Building and engaging community
Increasing awareness of Wikimedia projects
Recruiting and/or converting new users
Increasing contributions
Increasing volunteer motivation and commitment

Photo contests

Sample Goals	Suggested Measures
Increasing awareness of Wikimedia projects
Making contributing fun
Building and engaging community	Number of active users participation (5 edits/month), Total number of participants, Number of new users
Increasing support for the open knowledge/free content movement
Increasing contributions	Number of photos uploaded
Increasing diversity of information coverage
Increasing diversity of participants
Increase use of contributions on Wikimedia projects	X months after the event, X number (and Y%) of photos are used on wiki projects
Increase accuracy/detail/quality of contributions	X months after the event, X number (and Y%) of uploaded photos are categorized as valued, X (and Y%) as quality, and X (and Y%) as featured
Increase volunteer motivation and committment
Increase number of of cultural heritage sites listed on Wikimedia projects	% increase in number of monuments listed over prior year

Learn more about Global metrics!

See also

Related patterns

• Use Hidden Categories to track projects: Hidden categories allow you to track several projects under one category.

External links

• Glamorous: Calculates how many images from a certain category are being used on wiki projects.
• Wikimetrics: Tracks user contributions at different points in time.
• Wikimetrics Training: Wikimetrics learning module.