During World War Il, fighter planes would come back from battle with bullet holes. The Allies found the areas that were most commonly hit by enemy fire. They sought to strengthen the most commonly damaged parts of the planes to reduce the number that was shot down. However, after the improvement, the surviving rate didn’t go up as expected

A mathematician, Abraham Wald, pointed out that there was another way to look at the data. Perhaps the reason certain areas of the planes weren’t covered in bullet holes was that planes that were shot in those areas did not return. This insight led to the armor being re-enforced on the parts of the plane where there were no bullet holes.

The story behind the data is arguably more important than the data itself. Or more precisely, the reason behind why we are missing certain pieces of data may be more meaningful than the data we have. Don’t only listen to what is being said. Listen more to what is not being said.

So how can you relate to your product management? There are tons to cases. For example, track the behaviour of users who are already using the app, which mean they somehow accept your pros and cons. But an equally important group of user is the churned ones, who actually couldn’t bare with the app ‘stupidity’. Let’s talk to these users and you can find out many interesting insights to enhance your product!