Metrics and Trends

What the Metrics Block Is

In some reports, next to the chart there is a row of cards with key numbers — this is the metrics block. Each card shows one value (for example, the median completion time or the number of completed tasks), and some cards have a trend indicator next to the value.

The metrics block is present in these reports:

• Lead Time
• Throughput
• Control Chart (Premium)
• Percentile Trend (Premium)
• Flow Efficiency (Premium)
• WIP Run Chart (Premium)

The Aging Chart, CFD, Predictability, and Table View reports have no metrics block.

What a Card Consists Of

• Title — a short name of the metric (written in capital letters).
• Value — the number itself. The main metric of the report is highlighted in blue.
• Unit — where applicable: d (days), %, and so on.
• Trend indicator — not present on every card. It is an arrow with a percentage change:
  • ↑ — increase,
  • ↓ — decrease,
  • → — no significant change (or there is no data to compare with — then N/A is shown).

Why an Up Arrow Is Sometimes Green and Sometimes Red

The color depends not on the direction of the arrow, but on the meaning of the metric:

• More is better (for example, Throughput — the number of completed tasks). An increase is shown in green, a decrease in red.
• Less is better (for example, completion time, wait time, WIP, a time percentile). An increase is shown in red, a decrease in green.

In other words, green always means "a change for the better" and red means "for the worse", regardless of which way the arrow points.

Two Kinds of Trend

It is important to understand: in the reports, the word "trend" is calculated in two different ways. Do not confuse them.

1. Comparison with the Previous Period

Where it appears: the Total Completed card in the Throughput report.

The current result is compared with a period of the same length that comes immediately before the current one.

• The previous period is an interval of the same length that ends exactly one millisecond before the current one begins. Example: if the period March 1–31 is selected, then the previous period is January 29 – February 28 (the same duration, ending right before March 1).

• Change formula:

  Change, % = (Current − Previous) / Previous × 100
  

• If the previous period was 0, then any increase is shown as +100%.

• Changes of less than 1% in either direction are considered noise and are shown as "no change" (→).

• The arrow and the color follow the meaning of the metric (see the section about color above).

2. Dynamics Within the Selected Period

Where it appears: the Trend cards in the Percentile Trend and WIP Run Chart reports, and also the text metric Trend in Throughput.

Here the comparison is not with a separate previous period, but of the beginning of the selected range with its end:

• Percentile Trend — the percentile value in the first period is compared with the last one. A change of more than 5% in either direction → Increasing / Decreasing, otherwise Stable.
• WIP Run Chart — the average WIP over the first quarter of the range is compared with the last quarter (at least 4 days of data are required). The threshold is the same — 5%.
• Throughput, the text metric Trend — this is the direction of the trend line (linear regression) across all periods of the range. It may not match the "versus the previous period" arrow on the Total Completed card — this is normal, because these are different calculations: one looks at the dynamics of the whole range, the other compares the last period with the previous one.

When the Trend Is Not Shown

If there is nothing to compare with — there is no previous period, or there are fewer than two periods with data — the card shows N/A or simply the → arrow. A zero change is shown as → 0.0%.