I have suggested this one before that we rename “true retention” to “retention rate”. In the current context, the word true doesn’t make any sense. And it might also suggest that there’s some sort of “untrue retention” out there.
For some perspective, the add-on that started it all used the word true to mean “retention rate excluding learn state cards”. And as the “again rate” in stats included learn cards it made sense to claim that “true retention” is somehow truer than the “again rate”.
I agree, I also find the phrasing weird…
@dae seems like a consensus, do you opine we only change user-facing names or also internal variable names, etc.?
User-facing only would be less churn.
I’m not sure where all you’re thinking of changing the name, but how about just a simple title of Retention without the “rate”?
Works for me. Does anyone object?
The “rate” in “retention rate” indicates a mathematical (percentage) value about your retention. “Retention” just refers to the psychological process itself.
I vote for “Retention Rate”, since we’re actually talking about a percentage representation.
The chart shows tallies too, not just percentages. If you really want a 2nd word, I usually use “retention results” or “retention outcomes” when I’m talking to users about it (because I also dislike calling it “True Retention”).
But I think a simple title like “Retention” fits in nicely with the rest of Stats – like having a “Reviews” graph that shows you number of cards and time spent, but not calling it “Number of Reviews” or “Time Spent Reviewing”
I find that argument pretty convincing. Does anyone have any strong reasons why adding rate or some other word would be preferable?
When I hear the word “rate”, I think of how much fast something changes (as in related rates from calculus). So I vote for simply “Retention”.