Notes ·
When a Tap Is Not an Event
Instrumenting every interaction creates noise. Here is how we decide which taps deserve a lasting name.
Product teams often ask us to track everything users touch. That instinct is understandable—and expensive. Events that never inform a decision become maintenance debt the moment the UI shifts.
We start by listing the questions leadership already asks in standups and reviews. If an interaction cannot change a roadmap choice, a messaging experiment, or a reliability alert, it usually stays out of the taxonomy.
The exception is diagnostic breadcrumbs: sparse, well-named markers that help engineers confirm a broken path. Those are few, documented, and owned by engineering—not mixed into growth dashboards.
A useful rule: if you cannot write one sentence about how the event will be used within thirty days, keep it in a draft list instead of shipping it.