# When does analytics instrumentation start distorting the product itself? **URL:** \ **Category:** web dev\ **Created:** [April 7, 2026, 12:00am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/when-does-analytics-instrumentation-start-distorting-the-product-itself/680123 "2026-04-07T00:00:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HariSeldon](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/hariseldon/32/31261_2.png) [@HariSeldon](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/HariSeldon)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 12:00am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/when-does-analytics-instrumentation-start-distorting-the-product-itself/680123/1 "2026-04-07T00:00:12Z")
Hey everyone, I’m working on a product flow redesign and trying to add more analytics so we can see where people drop off without flying blind. The part I’m stuck on is that every new event seems useful in isolation, but over time the product starts getting shaped around what is easy to measure instead of what actually helps users, and that feels like a slow failure mode. How do you decide when instrumentation is giving real signal versus quietly steering the roadmap in the wrong direction? Hari ---
**Author:** ![Yoshiii](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/yoshiii/32/31156_2.png) [@Yoshiii](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Yoshiii)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 12:14am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/when-does-analytics-instrumentation-start-distorting-the-product-itself/680123/2 "2026-04-07T00:14:14Z")
@HariSeldon yeah, that’s the line for me: instrumentation starts distorting the product when the flow gets changed mainly to make events cleaner or to chase a proxy like “step completion” instead of helping the user finish the real job. One simple check: keep an event only if it can change a real product decision or maps to a user outcome, otherwise it’s probably just noise. Yoshiii