I'm not that familiar with the "smart" goal system but I'll try and give it a go if it makes you understand it easier. There has been no percentage of posts that have been posted that was expected to be curbed. Specific goals can only be measured after a few months and not really foreseen before. It would be nice to have these statistics released at the time of reviewing the system though.
That's awesome. Thank you. I think that's a great post, but that's not what I meant

I'm literally looking for something that would look like this:
The Merit system will decrease spam by XX% within XX months after being launched.That is a SMART goal because it is:
Specific. It says what the system will do, specifically, it does not say "help the community" which would be too vague to be considered a SMART goal.
Measurable. The percentage set becomes the standard by which success is achieved.
Achievable. A XX% reduction in spam is more achievable able than say the elimination of spam which is unrealistic.
Relevant. Reducing spam as you pointed out is relevant to the community and a tangible reduction would be helpful.
Time-bound. The number of months sets a countdown. If the XX% reduction is achieved, but it takes twice as long as the time amount set, that's not success.
The point of SMART goals is to help ensure success. For example, you can check in on your progress each month and see if you are on track. So if the goal was something like
a 10% reduction in spam within the first 6 months, you would expect to have more than a 5% reduction in spam by say month 4 and if not, something is wrong and you might not achieve your goal unless you make some changes.
But again, I love how your wrote that out. Thanks very much!
