What key metrics should you include in your product management portfolio?

Imagine yourself 6 months from now proudly sharing success story of your portfolio - a narrative that captivates and inspires everyone who hears it. let's identify key metrics by reverse engineering the journey. First, consider the key data point that will headline your story. Is it an impressive growth in user engagement, a significant reduction in costs, or perhaps a breakthrough in market share? - This is your mini North Star. - Delve into the human aspect of your narrative. What behaviours did you change => Metrics - Look at challenges => Metrics - How your efforts propelled the company forward => Metrics "Always begin with an end in mind" #Habit - 2 - Franklin R covey

Capture the essence of impact with metrics such as user acquisition, activation rates, and revenue growth. Strategies translated into impactful results are the secret sauce.

Truly great product's objective derives from answering following questions: - What's the end goal for you company/department this year and in 5 years? - What's core motivation for top and middle management to optimise for? Does it match with end goal? - How's market looking? What's positioning of our brand/product? How do we differentiate ourselves comparing to competitors? - What are the core risks in short and long term? Budget, losing long term customers, hence market share.

Goal: Increase User Engagement Key Metrics: Daily Active Users (DAU): Measure the number of users engaging with the product on a daily basis. User Retention Rate: Track the percentage of users retained over a specific time period. Feature Adoption Rate: Evaluate how quickly users adopt new features.

Provide context of your product/feature and then mention the Objectives that you had set for the project. Giving the context will help them visualize the product/feature better and understand the metrics contextually and know their relevance

Use AARRR framework to select metrics based on the product stage of the product lifecycle ?Acquisition: How do users find you? ?Activation: How do they experience value? ??Engagement: How do they Interact with your product ? ?Retention: Do they stay with you? ?Revenue: How do you make money? ?Referrals: Do they tell others about your product?

When building a product management portfolio: 1. Align metrics with product stage and strategy: Metrics should reflect where your product stands. 2. Discovery and Validation: Use metrics like customer feedback, user research, and market fit. 3. Growth and Scaling: Focus on user acquisition, retention, engagement, and monetization metrics. 4. Maturity and Optimization: Metrics should highlight customer satisfaction, loyalty, referral rates, and churn. 5. Choose metrics that best represent your product's current phase and goals.

Product Stage: Launching a New Feature Key Metrics: Feature Adoption Rate: Measure how quickly users adopt the new feature. User Feedback Score: Collect user feedback to gauge satisfaction. Conversion Rate: Track the percentage of users who take a desired action after using the new feature.

The PIRATE framework is valuable for comprehending a product's stage. Based on identified areas such as Acquisition, Activation, Retention, etc., specific metrics can be established. It's noteworthy that diverse products in your portfolio may warrant different metrics, and the same metric can track multiple products. Moreover, a single product may encompass multiple metrics; for instance, someone overseeing website operations may include traffic, registrations, and engagement (Time spent per user) as three distinct metrics in the portfolio.

Here are some reasons why aligning metrics with the product stage and strategy is crucial: Relevance to Objectives: Metrics should directly reflect the objectives and goals of the product at a given stage. For instance, in the discovery phase, understanding customer needs and validating ideas is key, while in the growth phase, metrics should align with scaling user acquisition and engagement. Informed Decision-Making: Tailoring metrics to the current stage enables product managers to make informed decisions based on the specific challenges and priorities of that stage. This ensures that efforts are focused on areas that contribute most to the product's success.

Framework: AARRR (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral) Acquisition Metrics: Cost per Acquisition (CPA) Conversion Rate from Visitors to Users Activation Metrics: Activation Rate Time to First Value Retention Metrics: User Retention Rate Churn Rate Revenue Metrics: Average Revenue per User (ARPU) Lifetime Value (LTV) Referral Metrics: Net Promoter Score (NPS) Referral Conversion Rate

Here are some reasons why I believe adopting a framework for metrics is beneficial: Clarity and Focus: A framework provides clarity on what metrics matter most for your product or project. It helps in focusing efforts on the key aspects that contribute to the success of your objectives. This ensures that your team is aligned with the overarching goals and priorities. Consistency: Using a framework promotes consistency in how metrics are defined, measured, and interpreted. This consistency is crucial for accurate tracking of progress over time and facilitates effective communication within the team and across the organization.

Using a framework can help you structure your thoughts and help you organize metrics in the most suited way. Often people don't use frameworks but not everyone has the structured approach hence it is advisable to use frameworks to define, organize and prioritize your metrics. There are plenty of frameworks one can use for metrics, few of the commonly used frameworks are: 1?? Pirate Framework - another name for the infamous AARRR framework 2?? HEART 3?? OKR's 4?? Leading vs Lagging indicators Note: don't fall into the trap of doing everything using frameworks, keep in mind that frameworks are only to help you get a structure and blindly applying them alone won't give out solutions.

Frameworks: Guiding Your Metric Story Frameworks provide structure, guiding your metric choices and narrative: SMART Goals: Craft Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound metrics to track tangible progress. OKRs: Align metrics with Objectives and Key Results to ensure strategic alignment and measure impact. HEART: Focus on user Happiness, Engagement, Adoption, Retention, and Task Success to prioritize user experience and satisfaction. Personalizing Your Framework: Reflect on your portfolio's unique needs and goals. Choose a framework that resonates with your storytelling approach. Adapt it to create a compelling and informative narrative for your audience.

Implement a structured framework like SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) or AARRR (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, Revenue) to categorize and prioritize your metrics, ensuring a balanced view of performance. Eg, if we apply the AARRR framework to a chatbot product like ChatGPT, the metrics could be: Acquisition: Number of new users signing up daily. Activation: Percentage of users engaging with ChatGPT within the first week of sign-up. Retention: Rate of users returning to use ChatGPT within a month. Referral: Number of users referred by other users. Revenue: Earnings from premium subscriptions. This approach ensures a comprehensive evaluation across different aspects of the product’s performance.

Visualisation of metrics is one of the most underestimated stages of goal setting. Not looking at same numbers, with same interpretation causes friction, unnecessary stress, siloed blaming of departments on each other. Using Tableau, DOMO, or any other tool you (and most likely with help of data magicians) can have layered dashboards going from top company metrics, derived from them domain metrics, and finally concrete products/user metrics on lower levels. What's important is that dashboards facilitate you in: - easing stakeholder management, as everyone is on the same page on data - helping you discover opportunities and pitch for them - getting your team onboard when it comes to prioritisation, as urgency is clear from data

1. Utilize charts, graphs, and dashboards to enhance your product management portfolio's appeal. 2. Highlight key insights, trends, and patterns for audience engagement. 3. Compare scenarios, segments, or experiments for better comprehension. 4. Tools like Excel, PowerPoint, Google Sheets, or Tableau aid in creating customized visualizations. 5. Ensure clarity in labels, titles, legends, and colors. 6. Explain the context and significance of each visualization for better understanding.

Create visual representations of your metrics to make them easily understandable. Examples include: Line Charts: Showing trends over time. Pie Charts: Representing the distribution of user actions. Dashboards: Aggregating multiple metrics for a comprehensive view.

The easier you make it for yourself and others to view your metrics (whether they are numbers on a sheet, or visualizations and dashboards) the more likely it is that people will stay informed on the data and look at it often. The more roadblocks there are, the more likely the team will avoid using these metrics. So keep it simple, easy to use and easy to understand the different elements and what they represent.

Here are a few reasons why I find this practice valuable: Enhanced Communication: Visualizations are powerful communication tools that can convey complex data in a simple and understandable manner. Charts and graphs can quickly communicate trends, patterns, and insights, making it easier for stakeholders to grasp the key messages. Facilitates Data-driven Decision-Making: Visualizations make it easier for both technical and non-technical stakeholders to interpret data. By presenting metrics in a visual format, you empower your audience to make informed decisions based on a clear understanding of the information. Efficient Comparison and Analysis:

In my opinion, a product manager should focus on three aspects of the product. Product from customer, business, development and maturity perspective. All the KPIs should be focused around these four areas on macro level. Some examples of these KPIs but not limited to are; Customer Perspective: Net Promoter Score, Satisfation Score, Customer Churn Business: MAU, NRR, MRR, RPU Development Perspective: Velocity, Backlog Coverage, Occupancy & Capacity, Time to Market Maturity Perspective: Feature Usability, Support Request Frequency, Ticket Repeatation

Metrics and frameworks are indispensable tools in any PM's toolkit yet the true usage lies in the ability to use them and weave a compelling narrative. In my PM journey, a pivotal lesson I learned is that every conversation is a sales conversation. The emphasis on metrics is not just about data, it's about leveraging them strategically to drive a desired outcome. By crafting a narrative with metrics, a PM should be able to connect the dots for the audience and make the metrics more relatable. Humanizing the data goes a long way in deeper engagement. Before telling a story do not forget to establish baselines to provide context and after presenting your metrics and story, encourage feedback to iterate and refine your storytelling

Tell a story not because you want to promote yourself, but it sticks. People remember narratives which are engaging. If you can marry a good story to numbers, which are connected to your product; it builds camaraderie within the group & people tend to resonate better with your thoughts. Use metrics to narrate the progress and impact of your product. Explain how each metric reflects user behavior, product performance, and market trends. This approach helps in making data-driven decisions and effectively communicating with your team and stakeholders.

Craft a narrative around your metrics to convey insights and actions. For example: Highlight Successes: Showcase improvements and achievements. Identify Challenges: Address areas that need attention. Contextualize Data: Provide context to explain fluctuations.

Metrics are the data, your story breathes life into them. Weave a narrative that connects the dots: Context is King: Briefly set the stage - product, goals, challenges. Quantify the Journey: Introduce key metrics as your guideposts. Plot the Twists and Turns: Highlight decisions, experiments, and adaptations. Celebrate Achievements: Showcase progress, impact, and exceeded expectations. Embrace Lessons Learned: Acknowledge bumps in the road and growth opportunities. Conclude with a Vision: End with a forward-looking perspective, hinting at future goals.

As the environment around us changes, so do the variables that influence our goals. When we update our metrics regularly, we ensure they stay relevant and aligned with the current scenario. This alignment gives us a clearer and more accurate view of our progress, allowing for better-informed decision-making. Moreover, these updated metrics provide real-time insights, enabling us to gauge the effectiveness of our strategies promptly, allowing for timely adjustments if needed.

Keep your metrics up-to-date and refine them based on changing goals and product stages. Regularly reassess your framework and adjust metrics accordingly.

Product management portfolio is a working document meaning it has to evolve constantly because it needs constant tending to stay fresh and impressive. Therefore, it becomes crucial to update and fine tune your earlier defined metrics whenever you have made a change. I usually have a metrics checklist which I follow whenever I make changes to my portfolio; I am attaching the list below you can try that and see if that works for you: ?Accuracy is Key: Double-check your data source ?Remove outdated metrics ?Follow the framework which you had used earlier and see where to make changes ?Check if your metrics and projects are aligned with current industry trends and goals.

View your product management portfolio as a dynamic narrative, not a static record. Regularly refreshing metrics is akin to updating chapters in a book, ensuring they stay pertinent to your evolving journey. Periodic reviews serve as plot twists, offering insights into performance and areas for refinement. Embrace the iterative nature of your portfolio, allowing it to mirror the ongoing story of your career growth in the dynamic realm of product management.

Typically, metrics crucial during a product's initial launch, like user acquisition and first-time user experience, may lose relevance as the product stabilizes and undergoes updates or enhancements, such as adding advanced features or improving performance. Therefore, regularly refreshing metrics becomes important for sustained success. As customer needs evolve, your product goals must also align with these changes, necessitating a shift in success measures. Regularly updating your metrics is a testament to your continuous improvement, and enables better (data-driven) decision-making, and sustained competitiveness.

A couple of metrics that usually help: 1. User Adoption/Engagement: # of active users DAU MAU Feature satisfaction rating 2. Customer Satisfaction CSAT NPS churn rate

By choosing the right metrics and showcasing your impact beyond just numbers, you'll craft a portfolio that truly shines and grabs the attention of potential employers or stakeholders. Few more things to consider : ?? Contextualize Metrics: Explain the story behind the numbers. Why are these metrics important? How do they reflect your contribution? ?? Visualize Data: Use charts, graphs, and infographics to make data digestible and impactful. Quantify Achievements: Don't just say "increased X," show the actual percentages or numbers. ?? Balance Quantitative & Qualitative: Include user testimonials, success stories, and feedback alongside hard data.

However, generally, all metrics fall into several categories related to user engagement, financial performance, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction. Here are some essential metrics to consider: User Engagement Metrics: - Daily/Monthly Active Users (DAU/MAU) - Session Length - Retention Rate Financial Performance Metrics: - Revenue - Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) - Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Operational Efficiency Metrics: - Time to Market - Development Velocity Customer Satisfaction and Quality Metrics: - Net Promoter Score (NPS) - Churn Rate Of course, the set of all metrics depends on the type of product and the type of company.

Benchmarking: Compare your metrics to industry benchmarks. Qualitative Data: Incorporate qualitative insights, such as user interviews and feedback. Agile Approach: Adapt your metrics to changes in product development or market conditions. Remember, the specific metrics will vary depending on your product and industry, so tailor these examples to fit your unique context. Regularly reassess and iterate on your metrics to ensure they remain relevant and aligned with your product management goals.

The key metrics you include in your product management portfolio will depend on several factors, including: Product Stage: * Discovery/Validation:Focus on metrics showcasing market fit, problem-solution fit, and customer feedback, like: * Net Promoter Score (NPS) * Customer satisfaction surveys * Conversion rates from early prototypes * Market research data * Growth/Scaling: Prioritize metrics indicating user acquisition, engagement, and monetization, such as: * Customer acquisition cost (CAC) * Monthly active users (MAU) * Daily active users (DAU) * Average revenue per user (ARPU) * Maturity/Optimization: Emphasize metrics demonstrating customer loyalty and long-term value, like: