What is PeopleAnalyst?

PeopleAnalyst is the front door for people-analytics research: 205+ works indexed and profiled, 40+ citation-grade findings extracted, and peer-reviewed behavioral science translated from academic to actionable — the missing manual for the people analytics you always meant to do.

What is people analytics?

People analytics is not a dashboard. It is behavioral science and statistical inference applied to workforce decisions — a discipline with its own methodology, spanning measurement, organizational design, talent, leadership, and analytics craft.

Why does AI in HR need measurement science?

AI is being deployed in high-stakes people decisions — hiring, performance, attrition — without the measurement science to evaluate whether it works or whom it harms. Construct validity, effect sizes, and criterion validity are the vocabulary for asking an AI vendor the right questions.

How is the research made accessible?

The evidence is indexed and searchable: 205+ works, 40+ citation-grade insight cards, and 8 research arcs, so the right finding reaches the right decision at the right time.

What separates good people measurement from assertion?

Good measurement has a method: construct validity, reliability, and effect-size interpretation are not optional — they are what separates evidence from assertion.

library / libd2c76d1916e5c848

Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It

April Dunford · 2019

In a sentence

A practical 10-step methodology for deliberately positioning products by setting the right market context so customers instantly understand why a product is uniquely valuable.

Obviously Awesome argues that great products fail not because they're bad but because they're poorly positioned—placed in a context where customers can't perceive their value. Drawing on April Dunford's 25 years repositioning sixteen products as a startup VP of marketing and her work consulting with dozens of tech companies, the book reframes positioning as deliberate 'context setting' rather than the useless fill-in-the-blank positioning statement. It breaks positioning into five-plus-one components (competitive alternatives, unique attributes, value, target market characteristics, market category, and trends) and provides a field-tested 10-step process for finding the market frame of reference that makes your strengths obvious to your best-fit customers. With memorable examples—from cake pops to Joshua Bell to a database repositioned as a data warehouse—it shows founders, marketers, and salespeople how strong positioning shortens sales cycles, reduces churn, supports premium pricing, and supercharges every marketing and sales tactic.

The four lenses

Science
Statistics
Systems
Strategy

The model

A causal model in which deliberate positioning practices (anchoring on best-fit customers, true competitive alternatives, unique attributes, value, target segment, market category, trends) drive customer comprehension and perceived value, which in turn drive business outcomes like faster sales, lower churn, and premium pricing.

Deliberate Positioningdesign lever

The deliberate act of choosing how a product is the best at something a defined market cares about, as opposed to accepting a default market context; the central design lever in the book.

Best-Fit Customer Focusdesign lever

The degree to which positioning is anchored on the characteristics of the happiest customers who buy quickly, rarely discount, and refer others, rather than a broad undifferentiated audience.

Competitive Alternative Claritydesign lever

The accuracy with which a company understands what customers would actually do or use if the product did not exist, including non-product alternatives like spreadsheets or doing nothing.

Unique Attribute Identificationdesign lever

The extent to which a company has isolated the provable features and capabilities it has that the true competitive alternatives lack, forming the basis of differentiation.

Value Articulationdesign lever

The degree to which unique attributes are translated into provable benefit and value tied to customer goals, supported by objective, third-party, or data-based proof rather than opinion.

Market Category Fitdesign lever

How well the chosen market frame of reference triggers helpful customer assumptions about competitors, features, and pricing that place the product's strengths at the center.

Positioning Style Alignmentcontextual condition

The fit between the chosen positioning style (Head to Head, Big Fish Small Pond, or Create a New Game) and the market maturity, competitive landscape, and company resources.

Trend Relevance Layeringdesign lever

The optional use of a current, customer-relevant trend that reinforces the market category and value to make the product feel timely and strategic without muddying the core positioning.

Positioning Internalizationbehavioral pattern

The degree to which the chosen positioning is captured, shared, agreed upon, and operationalized across marketing, sales, product, and customer success via a sales story and messaging.

Customer Comprehensionpsychological state

The speed and ease with which prospects understand what the product is, who it is for, and why it matters, reaching the aha moment quickly rather than being confused or comparing to wrong things.

Perceived Customer Valuepsychological state

The extent to which target customers recognize and believe in the product's value within its context, akin to a violinist perceived as world-class in a concert hall versus a subway.

Sales Efficiencyoutcome metric

Business outcome reflecting shorter sales cycles, higher close rates, and attraction of best-fit customers who move quickly through the buying process due to obvious value.

Customer Retentionoutcome metric

Business outcome reflecting low post-purchase churn because customers chose the product for the right reasons and received the value they expected, important for subscription businesses.

Pricing Poweroutcome metric

Business outcome reflecting the ability to charge a premium because clear positioning establishes leadership and differentiated value, removing the perception of being just like competitors.

How they connect

best fit customer focus → influences competitive alternative clarity
competitive alternative clarity → predicts unique attribute identification
unique attribute identification → predicts value articulation
value articulation → influences market category fit
deliberate positioning → influences market category fit
market category fit → predicts customer comprehension
positioning style alignment → moderates market category fit
trend relevance → moderates perceived value
customer comprehension → predicts perceived value
perceived value → predicts sales efficiency
perceived value → predicts pricing power
customer comprehension → predicts customer retention
positioning internalization → predicts sales efficiency
deliberate positioning → predicts positioning internalization

A candidate measure

Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It — derived measurement candidates