Put a Number on What a Change Does to One Unit of Work
The Business Workflow Unit Economics Worksheet
Companion to You Are Not the User · Updated 2026-09-29
Use this when you need to put a number on what a workflow change does to the cost and value of one unit of work. Worked in “Unit Economics Is Part of the User Experience.”
The Business Workflow Unit Economics Worksheet for one workflow.
| Line | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Unit of work | ||
| Volume per month | ||
| Time per unit, by role | ||
| Loaded cost per minute, by role | ||
| Revenue or value captured per unit | ||
| Error rate | ||
| Cost per error | ||
| Downstream work created per unit, and by whom | ||
| Net per unit | ||
| Net per month |
Fill the “by role” rows with one line per role. Most bad trades show up there: seconds saved for an expensive role, minutes added for a cheaper one, and a net per unit that got worse while the screen got faster.