KPI Relationships

KPI Relationships

📊 Overview

KPI Relationships define how KPIs are related to each other and help GermainUX identify signals that may explain changes in a KPI being analyzed.

Relationships are used by the Analysis Dashboard to prioritize related KPIs and provide additional context during analysis and root-cause investigation.

For example:

Relationships are directional. A relationship configured from KPI A to KPI B does not automatically create a relationship from KPI B to KPI A.

📈 How KPI Relationships Support Analysis

When a KPI is opened in the Analysis Dashboard, GermainUX evaluates its configured relationships to identify signals that may help explain the KPI's behavior.

Related KPIs can be prioritized using factors such as:

• Deviation from baseline

• Direction of movement

• Relationship strength

• Relationship type

• Co-movement with the KPI being analyzed

This helps investigators quickly identify KPIs that:

• May contribute to the observed issue

• Move with the analyzed KPI

• Move in the opposite direction

• Provide useful contextual events

• Execute within the analyzed KPI's activity

Instead of manually comparing multiple dashboards and KPIs, investigators can focus on the signals most relevant to the current analysis.

📚 Relationship Types

A relationship helps prioritize an investigation; it does not, by itself, prove causation.

⚙️ Configure a KPI Relationship

The easiest way to create a relationship is through the Add KPI Relationship wizard from the source KPI's configuration.

Germain Workspace > Left Menu > Wizards > Add KPI Relationship

1. Open the KPI from which the relationship should originate. This is the source KPI.

2. Open KPI Relationships.

3. Launch the Add KPI Relationship wizard.
   

   

4. Select the related KPI.

5. Configure the relationship.

6. Select Finish or Save.

7. Confirm that the relationship appears under the source KPI's KPI Relationships.
   

📝 Configuration

Direction

Direction describes the expected numerical relationship, not whether the behavior is good or bad.

Strength

Strength affects prioritization in the Analysis Dashboard. Configure it based on observed behavior and domain knowledge rather than the importance of either KPI.

🧾 Example

Assume Mouse Click errors are a leading contributor to User Click failures occurring within the same user session.

Configure the relationship on the User Click KPI:

To include only Mouse Clicks associated with an error, add a constraint such as:

userError == true

🔬 Analyze Related KPIs

Configured KPI Relationships become part of the investigation in the Analysis Dashboard.

Depending on the relationship, a related KPI can be displayed as a Trend or Marker.

📈 Trend

Use Trend when changes over time, deviation from baseline, or co-movement are important to the investigation.

A related KPI can display:

• Current value

• Comparison with baseline

• Trend

• Deviation or health

• Co-movement with the analyzed KPI

Select a related KPI's trend to add it to the main chart and compare it directly with the KPI being analyzed.

📍 Marker

Use Marker for discrete events where timing is more important than an aggregated trend.

Examples include:

• Errors

• Crashes

• Deployments

• Configuration changes

Markers are displayed on the Analysis Dashboard timeline. Select a marker to investigate the individual occurrence and compare its timing with changes in the analyzed KPI.

🔁 Pivot a Related KPI

A Trend relationship can be segmented using a Pivot to determine whether the relationship is concentrated within a particular population, application, technology, or environment.

1. Select Pivot By on the related KPI.

   

2. Select a dimension such as Country, Browser, or Server.

3. Review the resulting segments.
   

   

4. Compare their health, measure, count, and trends.

5. Select a segment to add it to the main chart.

This can reveal, for example, that a performance issue associated with declining conversion affects only a particular browser, application version, server, geography, or user population.

🔎 Filter Markers

When Marker relationships are displayed, use Filter Events to control which events appear on the Analysis Dashboard timeline.

You can:

• Show or hide individual Marker KPIs

• Filter markers by field values
  

  

• Search for KPIs or values

• Select or clear all markers

Changes are applied immediately to the visible timeline.

🎯 KPI Relationships and Root-Cause Analysis

KPI Relationships provide one source of evidence for Root-Cause Analysis.

A typical investigation can progress from:

KPI Change → Related KPIs → Affected Population → Individual Instances → Trace / Session Replay → Likely Root Cause

Relationships help identify where to investigate first. The underlying events, transactions, traces, Session Replay, and other monitored evidence help determine what actually occurred.

For example:

Conversion decreases
→ Checkout Page Load Time appears as a strongly related KPI
→ Pivot identifies the affected browser population
→ Individual sessions are investigated
→ Session Replay and related transactions provide supporting evidence
→ Likely cause is identified

This allows KPI Relationships to connect high-level business or experience changes with the detailed evidence available in GermainUX.

📋 Configuration Recommendations

• Configure relationships on the KPI users will investigate as the source.

• Use Contributor only when there is a credible contributing mechanism.

• Use Correlated when KPIs move together but causation has not been established.

• Use Contextual for events or signals that help explain the timeline.

• Choose Same or Inverse based on expected numerical movement.

• Use a correlation field such as sessionId when instance-level association matters.

• Apply constraints to exclude irrelevant instances.

• Select a Measure that matches the analytical question.

• Use Trend for continuous or aggregated signals.

• Use Marker for discrete events.

• Validate relationships against historical examples before assigning Strong strength.

Related Documentation

• Root-Cause Analysis

• Analytics

• KPIs, Pivots & Measures

• Manage KPIs

ℹ️ Get Help

The Germain Team can help you set this up. Contact GermainUX Support.