How would you measure the success of Clarivate Analytics's Web of Science platform?

Introduction

Measuring the success of Clarivate Analytics's Web of Science platform requires a comprehensive approach that considers multiple stakeholders and metrics. To address this product success metrics challenge, I'll follow a structured framework covering core metrics, supporting indicators, and risk factors while considering all key stakeholders.

Step 1

Product Context

Web of Science is a subscription-based platform that provides comprehensive citation data for multiple disciplines. It's primarily used by researchers, academic institutions, and R&D-intensive corporations to discover scientific literature, analyze research trends, and evaluate scholarly impact.

Key stakeholders include:

• Researchers: Seeking high-quality, relevant literature and impact metrics
• Academic institutions: Evaluating faculty performance and research output
• Funding bodies: Assessing research impact for grant decisions
• Publishers: Tracking journal performance and author metrics
• Clarivate Analytics: Generating revenue and maintaining market leadership

User flow typically involves:

1. Search: Users enter keywords, author names, or other criteria
2. Results exploration: Filtering, sorting, and examining search results
3. Citation analysis: Reviewing citation networks and impact metrics
4. Export/Integration: Saving results or integrating with reference management tools

Web of Science is central to Clarivate's strategy as a leading provider of scientific and academic intelligence. It competes with platforms like Scopus (Elsevier) and Google Scholar, differentiating through its selective indexing and comprehensive citation network.

The product is in the mature stage of its lifecycle, focusing on maintaining its position while expanding into new markets and integrating emerging technologies.