HEART Framework

The HEART Framework is a user-centered methodology that measures the quality of user experience (UX) through five key metrics: Happiness, Engagement, Adoption, Retention, and Task Success.

Origin

Google researchers Kerry Rodden, Hilary Hutchinson, and Xin Fu introduced the HEART Framework in 2010 through their research paper “Measuring the User Experience on a Large Scale: User-Centered Metrics for Web Applications”—presented at the ACM CHI conference.

The framework emerged because of a critical gap which Google’s UX team identified: although measuring user experience on a small scale through observations and interviews was common practice, no established framework existed for measuring user experience on a large scale through automated means.

The Five Metrics

Happiness

Measures user attitudes, satisfaction, and emotional response to the product. User happiness considers the feelings people have when they’re using a product—companies ask users direct questions to measure satisfaction and fulfillment levels. They typically measure this through user surveys, and satisfaction forms—a key indicator of attitude toward the product. Happiness may seem too challenging a category or a calculation of emotion to optimize—it can seem so unique or idiosyncratic to individual users. Nevertheless, it’s easy to measure through net promoter scores (NPS) and user surveys.

Engagement

Tracks how actively users interact with the product. This measures the level of use an average customer gets from the product. Teams typically measure engagement through session duration, feature usage frequency, and depth of interaction.

Note: Engagement has limited value in enterprise contexts because many users don’t choose to use a system; they have to use it as part of their job.

Adoption

Measures how successfully the product attracts new users and converts them into active users. This part focuses on how successful the product is at acquiring new users and whether they continue using the product after onboarding.

Caution: Teams should be cautious whenever they’re measuring adoption. Not all of it might be because of the design itself. Therefore, design teams might want to share credit with sales and marketing teams.

Retention

Focuses on keeping existing users engaged over time. Retention involves keeping existing users for a specified amount of time, which might be indefinite for products with long-term utility. Even so, teams typically examine various time scales to identify where user dropout is most pronounced. This HEART metric directly correlates with product value and long-term business success.

Task Success

Measures how effectively users can complete their intended actions within the product. Even if a product enables users to complete tasks and they get what they need or want to do done, the time it takes them and difficulty level matter significantly, too. This includes metrics like task completion rates, error rates, and time-to-completion for key user workflows.

Goals-Signals-Metrics Process

The HEART framework works with a Goals-Signals-Metrics model—which originated at Google—and it provides a straightforward approach to implementation. This three-step process translates abstract objectives into measurable outcomes:

• Goals represent broad, high-level objectives that align with user needs and business strategy
• Signals are observable indicators that suggest progress toward goals
• Metrics are the quantifiable data points that provide concrete measurement of success or failure

Example Mapping

Why It Matters

The framework provides a holistic view of UX that makes it easier to balance multiple variables. It encompasses both micro and macro measurements to help determine the impact of a product’s user experience. Retention has the most direct relationship to revenue, while other metrics influence overall value.

What makes the framework important is how it connects UX improvements directly to business outcomes. Teams can use HEART to identify essential patterns—such as how if they improve one metric, their effort to do so might weaken another—which helps them understand trade-offs and make strategic decisions about resource allocation.

Related Concepts

• [[Goals-Signals-Metrics (GSM) Model]] — the methodology used to implement HEART
• [[Net Promoter Score (NPS)]] — metric used to measure Happiness
• [[Design of Experiments (DoE)]] — systematic approach to measurement and experimentation
• [[Analytical Data]] — data for human decision-making
• [[Value Stream Mapping]] — measuring and improving processes

Source

• Interaction Design Foundation - HEART Framework
• Original research paper: Measuring the User Experience on a Large Scale: User-Centered Metrics for Web Applications (Kerry Rodden, Hilary Hutchinson, Xin Fu - Google, 2010)