Blog 35: What is a north star metric?
- Idea2Product2Business Team
- May 7, 2024
- 1 min read
Updated: Jan 27
North star metric is the key measure of success.
Explaining this with real world examples,
· For Amazon’s Kindle store, it might be number of downloads
· For Uber, it might be rides per week
· For Spotify, it might be time spent listening
· For Amazon, it might be number of purchases per month
· For Facebook, it might be monthly active users
· For Slack, it might be daily active users
· For Disney Hotstar, it might be increasing watch time
Companies are always looking to improve their north star metric (such as watch time, in the case of Disney Hotstar). If they are able to grow their north star metric, every other metric (such as number of subscribers, subscriber revenue, and etc.) would grow too.
This metric is something that we want to track long term. It cannot change daily.
Hence, select your north star metric wisely.
In some cases, the north star metric will also be the ‘a-ha’ moment for the user.
Why is it needed?
· It gives everyone on the product team a common goal to strive for.
· As the team and product grows, the north star metric will act as a binding force.
· To ensure everyone works towards a common goal.
Jump to blog 100 to refer to the overall product management mind map.
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All the best!