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North Star Metric Finder

overview
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Confirmation
NSM Tree diagram

North Star Metric Overview

What is a north star metric? A north star metric is the key measure of success for the product of a company. It defines the relationship between the customer problem(s) and the revenue that the business aims to generate by solving the problem(s). It is a measure of impact.
A good north star metric consists of 2 parts:
1. A statement of your product vision
2. A metric that serves as a key measure of your current product strategy
A north star metric should:
‍1. Give organization clarity and alignment on what product needs to optimize for
2. Communicates product’s impact and progress to the company
3. Holds product team accountable to an outcome
An effective north star metric:
1. Measures customer values
2. Aligns with product vision
3. Is a leading indicator of revenue
Now that you've familiarized yourself with the concept of a north start metric, let's dive into the first step in finding your NSM by clicking "Step 1" on the navigation tabs
Additional Resources:
Amplitude blog post
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Finmark blog post
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Mixpanel blog post
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Grow with wizard blog post
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Andreessen Horowitz blog post
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PVS NSM deck
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What Space Does Your Product Occupy?

When you think about the value your users get from using your product, most can fit within one of three categories or spaces. Which space (attention, transaction, or productivity) describes your business most accurately?
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Hint: time spent in the product is more likely to indicate satisfaction. You know you are successful when your user is absorbed in your product and using it more.
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Attention
Users gain value by the amount of time they spend using your product.
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Hint: helping customers find the right product for their needs, enact transactions effortlessly, and track production and delivery.
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Transaction
Users gain value with each transaction they make.
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Hint: you must understand that your user chooses your product because she has a job to do. She wants to do it efficiently and without errors. In fact, a measure of success may be that she’s using your product less.
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Productivity
Users gain value by actions that help them be more productive.
Select which game describes your business:
Game saved! Proceed to Step 2
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Select your input metrics

Input metrics help inform your North Star Metric. Input metrics fall into 4 dimensions: breadth, depth, frequency and efficiency. Use your game (game-name) to guide which input metrics you consider. Ask yourself, what is essential to the business functioning? Then, ask what KPIs & metrics measure the top few key factors?
For example, if you're playing the transaction game (like Airbnb), a good input metric in the breadth dimension might be: # new guests.
Some dimensions may not make sense for your business. Only create goals for the dimensions that make sense for your company and product vision.
Tip: Hover over the tooltips for more examples.
Breadth
How many users are engaging?
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Ex. 1: # new users
Ex. 2: # subscription trials
Ex. 3: # resurrected users
Depth
What level of engagement are they reaching?
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Ex. 1: # items added to cart
Ex. 2: # songs played
Ex. 3: # nights booked
Frequency
How often does each user engage?
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Ex. 1: # sessions / [time frame]
Ex. 2: # orders / [time frame] / user
Ex. 3: # hours listening / [time frame]
Efficiency
How efficient are they?
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Ex. 1: # tasks completed
Ex. 2: # requests submitted
Ex. 3: % items delivered on time
Input Metrics saved! Proceed to Step 3
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Choose your North Star Metric

Your North Star Metric defines the relationship between customer problems and revenue streams. It may be helpful to define your customer success moment (e.g. Lyft → when ride is booked for both rider & driver). Then ask, can we measure this success moment? Lastly, determine what the best frequency (day/mo.) is for continued tracking. Feel free to refer back to your input metrics in Step 2 to help guide your decision.
Remember, a good north star metric includes:
1. A statement of your product vision
2. A metric that serves as a key measure of your current product strategy
Ensure that your NSM:
1. Measures customer values
2. Aligns with product vision
3. Is a leading indicator of revenue
Enter your north star metric below:
North Start Metric saved! Proceed to Confirmation
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Your north star metric is:

NSM shows here
Before proceeding to the next step, ensure that your NSM aligns with each of the following:
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Represents vision and strategy
Since your NSM is supposed to be a driver of future business success, it's critical that the metric aligns with future business vision and strategy
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Leading indicator of revenue
If your NSM  grows, your business will grow (NSM must drive future growth)
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Measurable
Define a time period with enough frequency to measure growth often and sufficient data in each time period
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NOT vanity metric (DAU)
While DAU/MAU are important metrics to track, they are not a good NSM.
An effective NSM measures value, whereas vanity metrics do not.
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Control over metric
External factors must have minimal impact. For example, Salesforce doesn’t use “closed deals” because they cannot control that. Instead, they measure usage of the platform
Confirm NSM

North Star Tree

Use this north star tree to help ensure that each input metric maps to the correct dimension and all drive towards your north star metric. Additionally, ensure that your NSM aligns with your game: game-text.
Input Metrics:
breadth goal
depth goal
frequency goal
efficiency goal
Dimensions:
Breadth
Depth
Frequency
Efficiency
NSM:
NSM text