Track Your First Feature

You’ve shipped (or are about to ship) a feature, and you want to know: did it actually move the needle? This walkthrough takes you from creating your first dev item to understanding your first impact result.

The big picture

VEKTIS measures feature impact by comparing before and after:

1. Before — You collect baseline data showing what the metric looks like before your feature ships
2. Ship it — You mark the feature as released with a release date
3. After — You add post-release measurements to see what changed
4. Results — VEKTIS tells you whether the change is real or just noise

The whole process takes about 2 minutes of setup, plus the time it takes to gather data.

Create your first dev item

A dev item is any feature, improvement, or change you want to measure the impact of.

1. Click “New Dev Item” from the dashboard

2. Fill in the basics:

   • Title — A clear name for your feature (e.g., “Simplified checkout flow”)
   • Description — What the feature does and why you’re building it
   • Owner — Who’s responsible for tracking this

3. Define what you’re measuring:

   • Target Metric — The specific metric you expect to change (e.g., “Checkout completion rate”)
   • Target Impact — How much you expect it to change (e.g., “Increase by 15%”)
   • Direction — Whether success means the metric goes up or down

4. Save the dev item

Note

You can also link dev tickets (up to 10 URLs) and add notes. These are optional but useful for keeping context together.

Add baseline data

Before you can tell whether your feature made a difference, you need a picture of what “normal” looks like. That’s what baseline data gives you — a reliable before to compare against your after.

Where does this data come from? Wherever you normally track the metric — your analytics dashboard, internal reporting tools, spreadsheets, or observability platform. You’ll pull the number from your source and enter it into VEKTIS.

Example: If your target metric is “Signup conversion rate,” you’d check your analytics tool for last week’s conversion rate (say, 12.3%), then enter that as a baseline data point in VEKTIS.

1. Click on your dev item from the dashboard to open its detail page. You’ll see separate sections for Baseline Metrics and Post-Release Metrics.
2. In the Baseline Metrics section, click “Add Baseline Metric”
3. Enter a data point:
   • Date — When this measurement was taken (must be before your release date)
   • Value type — How the number should be displayed (percentage, count, currency, etc.)
   • Value — The number from your source (e.g., 12.3 for a 12.3% conversion rate)
4. Repeat with more data points from different dates

Tip

Aim for at least 4 data points before shipping. This gives VEKTIS enough context to distinguish a real change from normal fluctuation. You can ship with fewer, but your results will be less reliable.

As you add data, VEKTIS shows a baseline strength indicator:

Strength	Data points	What it means
Insufficient	0–1	Not enough data to calculate anything yet
Weak	2	Bare minimum — results will be rough
Moderate	3	Decent picture, but more data helps
Strong	4+	Reliable baseline — you’re ready to ship

Mark as released

When your feature ships, tell VEKTIS:

1. Open your dev item
2. Click “Mark as Released”
3. Enter the release date — the day the feature went live
4. Confirm

The dev item moves to Measuring status, and you can start adding post-release data.

Note

The release date can’t be in the future, and it can’t be before your earliest baseline data point. This ensures your “before” and “after” don’t overlap.

Add post-release measurements

Now that your feature is live, go back to the same source you used for baselines (your analytics dashboard, reporting tool, etc.) and record how the metric looks after shipping.

Example: If your baseline was “Signup conversion rate at 12.3%,” check the same analytics tool a week after release. If it’s now 14.1%, enter that as a post-release data point.

1. Open your dev item and scroll to the Post-Release Metrics section
2. Click “Add Post-Release Metric”
3. Enter the measurement — date (on or after release), value type (matches baseline), and the value from your source
4. See your results immediately — VEKTIS calculates the impact as soon as you save

Read your first result

After adding a post-release measurement, VEKTIS shows you:

• Delta — How much the metric changed compared to your baseline average
• Impact indicator — A quick visual showing how significant the change is:
  • Significant Impact (green or red) — Strong evidence the change is real
  • Confirmed Impact (green or red) — Likely a real change, but more data points will help confirm
  • Signal Detected (gray) — Within the normal range — could just be day-to-day variation
• Interpretation — A plain-language explanation of what the numbers mean

Tip

Don’t stop at one measurement. Each additional data point makes your results more reliable. Aim for at least 3–4 post-release measurements over a few weeks.

What’s next?

• Collecting Baseline Data — Deep dive into baseline best practices
• Understanding Your Results — How VEKTIS determines impact confidence
• Creating and Managing Dev Items — All dev item features and options