Who This Helps
You're a Product Manager drowning in experiment ideas. Every stakeholder wants their pet project done first. You need a calm, data-backed way to say "this one, not that one." The Metrics & Dashboards Basics course is built for exactly this moment.
Mini Case
Meet Maya. She manages a SaaS product with 20 tracked metrics. Her team proposed three experiments: a pricing tweak, a new onboarding flow, and a feature request. Maya used the Weekly Scoreboard mission from the course. She picked the experiment that moved her North Star Metric by 12% in a single week. The other two? She parked them for later. No drama. No politics.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- Define your North Star Metric. Pick one number that tells you if your product is delivering real value. Keep it simple.
- List your supporting metrics. Choose 3 to 5 metrics that influence your North Star. For example, activation rate, retention, or referral count.
- Set realistic targets. Don't guess. Use last month's data plus a 10% stretch. Write them down.
- Build a weekly scoreboard. Every Monday, update your metrics. If a metric is below target, that's your cue to run an experiment.
- Rank experiments by impact. For each idea, ask: "If this works, how much will it move my North Star?" Pick the one with the biggest expected lift.
Avoid These Traps
- Tracking too many numbers. Stick to 5 or fewer. More noise means slower decisions.
- Ignoring guardrails. If your experiment hurts retention, stop. Set a minimum acceptable threshold.
- Falling in love with one metric. A dashboard shows the whole picture. Don't optimize a single number at the expense of others.
- Waiting for perfect data. Use what you have today. A rough estimate beats a perfect guess next quarter.
- Skipping the target. Without a target, you can't tell if you're winning or losing.
Your Win by Friday
By Friday, you'll have a one-page scoreboard with your North Star, 3 supporting metrics, and clear targets. You'll know which experiment to run next. And you'll sleep better knowing you picked the highest-impact move. That's the power of a simple, trusted dashboard.