Who This Helps
You're a growth marketer drowning in experiment ideas. Every channel team wants their pet project greenlit. But you need to move channel metrics without guesswork. The Metrics & Dashboards Basics program gives you a simple system: a weekly scoreboard that surfaces the one experiment that actually moves your North Star.
Mini Case
Maya runs growth at a B2B SaaS company. She had 12 experiment ideas on her Trello board. Her team tracked 20 numbers every week, but nobody knew which one mattered. After building a weekly scoreboard with guardrails (a mission in the program), she spotted that trial activation was stuck at 34% for 7 weeks. She prioritized a simple onboarding tweak. Activation hit 42% in 3 weeks. No guesswork. Just a clear signal.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- Pick your North Star metric. This is the one number that tells you if your product is delivering real value. For Maya, it was weekly active teams.
- Define 3 supporting metrics. These are the levers that move your North Star. Maya chose trial activation, feature adoption, and referral rate.
- Set realistic targets. Don't guess. Use last quarter's average plus a 10% stretch. Maya set trial activation at 38% as her target.
- Build your weekly scoreboard. List your North Star, supporting metrics, current value, target, and a green/yellow/red status. Update it every Monday. Takes 15 minutes.
- Add guardrails. These are metrics that must stay healthy while you experiment. Maya tracked support tickets and churn rate. If a guardrail turns red, pause the experiment.
Avoid These Traps
- Tracking too many numbers. If you have more than 5 metrics on your scoreboard, you're not focusing. Cut ruthlessly.
- Changing targets every week. Pick a target and stick with it for at least 4 weeks. Otherwise you'll never know if you're winning.
- Ignoring guardrails. A growth experiment that breaks the core experience is not growth. It's a fire.
- Making it a solo exercise. Share your scoreboard with the team every week. One person can't prioritize for everyone.
- Using vanity metrics. Page views and sign-ups feel good. But if they don't connect to your North Star, they're noise.
Your Win by Friday
By Friday, you'll have a one-page weekly scoreboard with your North Star, 3 supporting metrics, targets, and guardrails. You'll know exactly which experiment to run next. No more debating. No more guessing. Just a calm, data-backed decision. And maybe a little extra time for coffee.