Because that's kind of the point of collecting them. I mean yes, making cool-looking stuff can also be the goal, but one should be explicit about the fact that those are two different goals. Currently, the Quantified Self / fitness toys (aka. wearables) talks a lot about actionable data, while really providing just nice looking toys, often dumbed down to make data not actionable.
I think most people figure it out after spending some time fascinated with pretty charts. At some point you finally realize that all you have are pretty pictures, and you're not really optimizing anything by just looking at them. After this realization, one is finally ready to search for significant improvements. And then comes the enlightenment - tools like dashboards and charts are crutches; the less you need them the better, because the ultimate goal is to have smart decisions, not data, and to minimize the separation between your mind and those decisions.
> Are metrics and stats in games actionable? No, but they are interesting nevertheless.
Usually. Games are good example actually. You can clearly identify the two things a game interface contains - visual clutter, and directly actionable information. Fast-paced, competitive games usually reduce the former and focus on the latter.
Because that's kind of the point of collecting them. I mean yes, making cool-looking stuff can also be the goal, but one should be explicit about the fact that those are two different goals. Currently, the Quantified Self / fitness toys (aka. wearables) talks a lot about actionable data, while really providing just nice looking toys, often dumbed down to make data not actionable.
I think most people figure it out after spending some time fascinated with pretty charts. At some point you finally realize that all you have are pretty pictures, and you're not really optimizing anything by just looking at them. After this realization, one is finally ready to search for significant improvements. And then comes the enlightenment - tools like dashboards and charts are crutches; the less you need them the better, because the ultimate goal is to have smart decisions, not data, and to minimize the separation between your mind and those decisions.
> Are metrics and stats in games actionable? No, but they are interesting nevertheless.
Usually. Games are good example actually. You can clearly identify the two things a game interface contains - visual clutter, and directly actionable information. Fast-paced, competitive games usually reduce the former and focus on the latter.